Effects of short-term starvation and refeeding on some physiological parameters in Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Gunther, 1874) fingerlings

The present study investigated the effects of short-term starvation and Re-feeding on some physiological indices of Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Günther, 1874) fingerlings. Three experimental groups (each in 3 replicate) including 4, 8 and 16-days of starvation were used in this study. End of starvation period and the beginning of re-feeding in all treatments were concurrently occurred. Blood samples were collected from 15 fish in each treatment (5 fish from each replicate) at the initial and the end of starvation and also end of re-feeding periods, from the caudal vasculature vein using heparinized syringes after anesthetization with an aqueous solution of 2-phenoxy-ethanol (%2). Results showed that the number of red blood cells (RBCs), Hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and Hematocrit (Ht) was significantly lower in 16-days starvation group compared to basal values (P0.05), while their number increased significantly after re-feeding period (P0.05). These findings showed that fasting up to 16 days and re-feeding could not affect physiological responses in M. sharpeyi.