SKELETAL DEFORMATIES AT IPMA'S AQUACULTURE RESEARCH STATION (PORTUGAL)

Fish with skeletal deformities are a serious problem in the aquaculture industry and can affect till 30% of production. Malformations can negatively affect growth rates and the commercial value of the produced fish. Therefore, it is important to identify these abnormalities as soon as possible to discarded fish and be able to avoid increasing production costs.

Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO) is a national facility where research projects are developed to provide answers to aquaculture sector. At EPPO, skeletal deformities are assessed on several Mediterranean fish species: European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), zebra seabream (Diplodus cervinus), white seabream (Diplodus sargus), common two-banded seabream (Diplodus vulgaris), sole (Solea senegalensis) and meagre (Argyrosomus regius). During rearing, visual observation are firstly used to identify malformation occurrence, a common procedure in aquaculture facilities. Secondly to refine this selection soft X-ray is used to confirm and characterize skeletal deformities on digital images.

Lordosis and vertebral fusions are the main malformations observed in D. labrax, S. aurata, D. sargus and D. vulgaris revealed a high incidence of lordosis and kyphosis.

Lordosis, kyphosis, vertebral fusions, mandibular deformities and saddleback-like syndrome were the most common skeletal deformities observed.

Most common skeletal deformities (HL: haemal-lordosis; OD: opercular deformation; MHF: multiple haemal fusions; Ho: heperosteosis; CK: caudal kyphosis).

Acknowledgments: Research funded by project DIVERSIAQUA (MAR2020, Portugal).