The effects of capture, "stress," and storage of whole blood on the red blood cells, plasma proteins, glucose, and electrolytes of the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus).

Abstract

When the blood from flounder caught in the field was compared with the blood of laboratory-maintained flounder, a number of differences were observed. Hematocrits, mean red blood cell volumes, blood hemoglobin, plasma osmolality, and plasma Na+ and Cl− were significantly higher in the field flounder, while the mean cell hemoglobin concentrations and plasma K+ were significantly lower.Experiments conducted on the effects of "stress" suggested that differences in plasma osmolality, protein, Na+, Cl−, red blood cells, hemoglobin, and mean cell hemoglobin between field and laboratory flounder could have been due to the effects of capture on the field fish.The high hematocrits and mean cell volumes, and the low mean cell hemoglobin concentrations observed in the field samples may have been caused by the combined effects of capture and the 1.5- to 3-h storage of the red blood cells when they were transported back to the laboratory.The low K+ concentrations observed in the plasma of the field blood samples appeared to be due to the storage of the blood samples.