Adaptation strategy for Jambal Catfish (Pangasius djambal) to stress the aquatic environment

Abstract

Oxygen is a major element in the metabolic process of cells in an aquatic animal’s body. Water oxygen solubility fluctuations will affect the metabolic process. Acute oxygen deficiency conditions can cause physiological changes in the body of fish. The research aims to analyze morphometric characters and genetic characters as environmental pressure. Test fish used in this research are 24.21+ 0.96 cm jambal fish (P.djambal) with 223.42 + 31.23 g. The treatment provided is an environment with different oxygen solubility, i.e., low oxygen (hypoxia), high oxygen (normoxia), and high fluctuating conditions naturally as control. The observed variables include the main parameters: the extent of gills filaments, the hemoglobin levels in the blood, and the expression of Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) genes. Supporter parameters are growth and mortality as well as water quality parameters. LDH gene expression analysis on jambal catfish (P.djambal) using Reverse Transcriptase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method. An analysis shows the morphometric characters of jambal catfish living in a hypoxia environment (P < 0.05). The genetic character of jambal catfish (P.djambal) shows that the hypoxic environment of gene expression LDH is better than fish living in a normoxia and natural environment. Gene LDH indicates the strategy of jambal catfish (P.djambal) adaptation used in the selection program to produce jambal catfish (P.djambal) resistant to the hypoxic environment.