Effects of elevated ambient histamine level on survival, growth, sexual maturity and tissue histamine accumulation of the mysis Neomysis awatschensis and Neomysis japonica Nakazawa

Abstract

In Asia, trash fish have been routinely used in aquaculture often due to their local availability and lower costs compared to formulated feed. However, stale trash fish contain high levels of biogenic amines, which have been reported to be harmful to poultry and some aquatic animals. The present study elevated the effects of histamine levels in the water on survival, growth, sexual maturity and tissue histamine accumulation of two estuarine mysis, Neomysis awatschensis and Neomysis japonica Nakazawa. Newly hatched neonates of each mysis species were cultured in brackish water containing 0 (control), 5, 10 and 15 mg/L histamine until they reached sexual maturity. The results showed that compared to the control, survival of N. awatschensis was significantly lower in both 10 and 15 mg/L histamine treatments (69.5 and 62.5% vs. 86.5%). In the case of N. japonica Nakazawa, significantly lower survival was found for the 15 mg/L treatment (53.9% vs. 72.4%) (P 0.05) but the intermolt period was substantially prolonged at all histamine levels tested when compared to that of the control. Meanwhile, the timings required to reach sexual maturity for both male and female of the two mysis were generally increased with increasing histamine level, and such differences were often statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared to the control, the tissue histamine concentration of the mysis increased significantly at histamine concentrations of 10 and 15 mg/L for N. japonica Nakazawa (P < 0.05). In the case of N. awatschensis, however, no significant differences were found among all treatments. Our findings indicate that histamine had clear negative effects on both mysis species although their responses and sensitivity appeared somewhat different. Our results suggest that further research is needed to assess the effects of water borne histamine on various aquatic animals.