Haematological assessment of four amazonian ornamental armoured catfish (Teleostei, Loricariidae)

The aim of this study was to characterize the haematological profile of four Amazonian ornamental freshwater armoured catfish: acari-bola (Peckoltia oligospila - L06), acari-pleco (Cochliodon sp. - L145), acari-canoa (Lasiancistrus saetiger - L323) and acari-assacu (Pseudocanthicus spinosus - L160). The highest blood glucose levels (72.47 ± 28.7 mg dL-1) and erythrocyte counts (0.51 ± 0.2 x 106 cel. μL-1) were recorded for acari-canoa. The acari-bola and acari-pleco presented similar concentrations of total plasma protein (TPP) (7.96 ± 1.8 and 7.93 ± 1.8 g dL-1, respectively) against lower TPP concentrations observed in acari-canoa (4.87 ± 1.5 g dL-1) and acari-assacu (6.55 ± 1.5 g dL-1). The acari-assacu had lower total haemoglobin concentration (5.88 ± 1.7 g dL-1) and haematocrit (12.66 ± 4.6%). No interspecific differences were observed in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The acari-pleco and acari-assacu presented the highest counts for neutrophils (4142.42 ± 3280.1 cel. μL-1) and thrombocytes (4778.33 ± 1224.8 cel. μL-1), respectively. The haematological profiles were similar to those reported in the literature for freshwater fish and the interspecific differences observed were discussed.