Journal of Animal Research
Year:2015 | Volume:28 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:11

Immunostimulants have a special relationship with possible mechanism of immunity system of fish. The present study investigated Influence of dietary administration of Peganum harmal L, on phagocytosis, lysozyme, respiratory burst and blood cells of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to determine stimulatory effect of methanol extract. Fish weighting 100± 10 g were fed with different doses of 10, 50 and 40 mg/kg food for a period of 14 days. There was a control group fed only with commercial food. After 14 days, samples from kidney and blood of the fish were collected in order to determine phagocytosic, respiratory burst activity and lysozyme, total white and red blood cells( WBC/RBC) respectively. Results of present study indicated that the highest ratio of lysozyme activity was observed in 20 and 50 mg/kg extract concentration of P. harmala (P<0. 05). The highest WBC and RBC were seen in 20 mg/kg extract concentration of P. harmala. No significant difference was shown between phagocytosis and respiratory burst activity in treatment groups and control group (P>0. 05). It can be concluded that 20 and 50 mg/kg of the P. harmala extract have positive effects on lysozyme activity in O. mykiss.

The research aims at investigating the effect of sand and gravel factory hogwash on biological, environmental and ecological indices in Tirom River. Examining the biological indexes was being done during 6 months, from July to November 2012 in 5 fishery farms through using Sorber, a sample collector in three reiterations. To measure environmental indices in water, there were examined 6 factors (pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, TSS, TDS and water temperature) in research center of cold water fish, in Dohezar, Tonekabon. Moreover to measure the ecological indices to assign diversity, species dominance and richness, there were used Shannon-Weaver, Simpsons and Margalof. To analyze the data, after imposing standardization, there were picked up Kolmogrof-smirnof, One-way variance test, ANOVA, Besides to compare means, Duncan was utilized. Totally there were recognized 1727 Macrobentohs which they all belonged to 23 families and 7 orders. The most abundant was Hydropsychidae family and the least was recorded for Echyonuridae. The results revealed that the amount of suspension materials of TSS, solution material of TDS, as well as turbidity in three stands (the hogwash factory entrance) were highest to all other stands (P<0. 05). the gained results showed that factory hogwash would cause macrobentoz’ diversity and abundance decrease in three farms (p<0. 05). the ecological means were the least in farm No. 3 (shanon-winner) and the most in farm No. 1 (P<0. 05). it showed the high degree of pollution in Tirom River.

The hillstream loaches, family Nemacheilidae, are considered to be a complex group in terms of taxonomy because of difficulties to extract their morphological traits. Therefore, their classification has been established based on osteological and molecular grounds. In addition, study of the osteological features of fish’ s head can help to better understanding of their biological characteristics such as feeding and respiration. Hence, this study was aimed to provide the characterization of the cephalic osteology of Safidrud stone loach Oxynoemacheilus bergianus from Sefid River and comparing the results with those of O. angorae. For this study, sixteen specimens of Safidrud stone loach were collected using electrofishing. Specimens were fixed into 4% buffered formalin after anaesthetizing and then cleared and stained with alizarin red S and alcian blue for osteological examinations. The Safidrud stone loach shows differences in the shape of the neurocranium, bony elements forming suspensorial facets, connection position of the lateral ethmoid, possessing urohyal extra and shape of the pectoral fin radial in compare to O. angorae and other genus of nemacheilids that can be considered as distinctive characteristics of these two taxa. Regarding the weakness of the morphometric, meristic and color pattern traits for taxonomic study, the finding of this research can be used for future taxonomic studies of this taxa.

The olive leaf moth, Palpita unionalis (Hubner) is an important pest of nurseries, young olive orchards and also on the suckers of old trees. Strategies adopted by insects spend the winter in order to exert an important role in the viability of this, one of this strategy is their freezing temperature regulation. In this study, coldhardiness of this pest and some influencing factors such as photoperiod and host plant on the suppercooling capacity of P. unionalis have been studied. The colonies at temperature 24± 2oC, relative humidity 60± 10% and 8: 16 (dark: light) h photoperiod was maintained. In The first test suppercooling points (SCP) of the overwintering individuals (larvae 5 and pupae) of P. unionalis were grown in three photoperiod, 16, 12 and 8 hour light, and analyzed. Different photoperiods had significant effects on SCP of larvae 5 and pupae (p <0. 001), so short days in pupa stage show more suppercooling capacity. In the second test SCP of the overwintering individuals of the four host plant, olives, jasmine, ash and prim were maintained in 16 hours light were measured. These results suggested significant effects of host plant on the SCP (p <0. 001), so those fed olive plants showed greater cooling capacity. The results obtained in this study indicated that the, P. unionalis is chill-intolerant pest.

Eugenic programs have caused the increase of growth rate in broilers in previous decades. Unfortunately, the increase growth rate is associated with increase of cardiovascular disease such as ascites and sudden death syndrome. Feed restriction is used to reduce the above mentioned disease. In present experiment, the effect of feed restriction on body weight, blood lipids and nitric oxide level in broilers was investigated. Broiler chickens were restricted from 7 to 35 days of age under three groups of feed restrictions. Birds in the first group were not subjected to feed restriction (fed adlibitum) and the second and third groups were restricted daily for 4 and 8 hours. At the age of 35 days, the broilers were weighted and sampled their blood. Results of this study showed that feed restriction significantly led to reduce of body weight and energy utilization in broilers (P<0. 05). However, the levels of cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL were not affected by feed restriction. Feed restriction caused the increase of nitric oxide level and it was significantly higher in chickens subjected daily eight hours to feed restriction than those fed adlibitum (P<0. 05).

One of the best practical methods to understand ecological status of a water body and determine impacts of human activities in reducing water quality is the use of benthic macroinvertebrates as assessment tools for monitoring their biological integrity and health. Macroinvertebrate samples were taken using Surber sampler (an area of 0. 1 m2 and 63 μ m) with 3 replicates in each sampling site. This research has been done every month for a year at a distance about 80 km on Tajan River from September 2011 to August 2012. 10112 macroinvertebrates were identified belonging to 30 families, 12 orders. The most abundance of Macroinvertebrates has been identified in station 3, which has significantly increased compared to the other stations (P≤ 0. 05), and the lowest abundance of them was found at station 5. The results of the functional feeding groups of macroinvertebrates in this study included six groups: collector /Filter, Scraper, Shredder, Collector/ Gatherer, Omnivore and Predator. Groups of Filter/collector and Collector /Gatherer were significantly increased in slightly and heavily polluted stations (P≤ 0. 05). in general, based on the results of the distribution of macroinvertebrates and their nutritional behaviors, the influence of these factors on Tajan river is quite evidence and the stations that were affected by a variety of effluents (Stations 5, 2, 3 and 6) had undesirable conditions in the studied river.

In recent years, plankton Bloom has increased in coastal waters around the world. Class of Scyphozoa belong to phylum Cnidaria has known as true jellyfish and most of these zooplankton in coastal waters have potential to form bloom that can have adverse effects on fishing and fish stocks, Thus, their identification is essential. In the present study, a Jellyfish species that formed bloom in February 2012 in Chabahar Bay had been sampled. The samples were morphologically identified, and was confirmed using 18S-rRNA gene. The sequence of species was compared with other 25 homologe sequences downloaded from public GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis using Maximum likelihood (ML) was performed. The blast result showed that the18S rDNA sequence of collected species from Chabahr bay with 99% identity nested within Pelagia noctiluca clade. According to the results of morphological and molecular analysis the sample was identified as P. noctiluca. In the phylogenetic tree the collected species placed in the Pelagiidea family clade and supported with 98% bootstrap. The overall results showed that the Semaeostomeae is a paraphyletic group. The results also revealed that molecular and morphological analysis could help to identify jellyfish species. This is because most of jellyfish species’ body is made of water and their morphological identification is difficult.

Introgression among hybridizing species plays an important role in intraspecific variations and acquisition of novel traits especially along hybrid zones. The breeding ranges of the Red-headed and Black-headed buntings (Passeriformes) overlap in southestern Caspian Sea where hybrid specimens can be found. Mainly using Mist nets, we sampled 81 specimens of the Red-headed bunting (57 males and 24 females) from north and northeastern Iran in order to investigate sexual dimorphism, intraspecific variation, and role of hybridization on species-specific traits. The Independent sample t test and the PCA were performed on 15 morphometric characters using SPSS and PAST softwares. Furthermore nine chromatic characters were coded and analyzed in PHYLIP and PAUP softwares. Results of morphometric characters showed significant difference between male and females. Analyses of plumage coloration showed that there are at least four morphotypes in the Red-headed bunting. We concluded that using morphometrical and especially chromatic characters we will be able to discriminate pure individuals from most F1 hybrids.

There are limited studies about nutrition of ostriches, and its role in the body’ s metabolic status. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different concentrate: alfalfa hay ratio on concentrations of blood protein and energy metabolites, electrolytes and activity of some enzymes of African domestic ostrich chickens at 8 and 10 month of age. Three treatments were as follows: 700g of concentrate plus 300g alfalfa hay (treatment 1), 650g of concentrate plus 350g alfalfa hay (treatment 2) or 600g of concentrate with 400g of alfalfa hay (treatment 3) per kg of diet. A total of 18 ostrich chickens, with average weight of 63 ± 3. 15 kg, were used in this experiment (6 birds per treatment). The treatment 1 had significantly higher blood glucose and lower uric acid levels compared with treatment 3 (P<0. 05). The treatment 3 also showed the lower enzyme activity of aspartate transaminase and cholesterol and LDL-C levels compared with treatment 1 (P<0. 05). With increasing age, the blood glucose level was decreased, whereas the urea level was increased (P<0. 05). Dietary treatment and age had no significant effects on values of total protein, albumin, globulin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transferase, triglycerides, HDL-C and VLDL-C (P>0. 05). From the results of this study, it could be concluded that the use of diet containing higher crude fiber and lower metabolizable energy (ME) in ostriches’ diet was particularly effective to improve the metabolic profile, especially plasma lipid profile, compared with diets containing lower fibers and higher ME.

This study was conducted to determine the effects heavy metal of Chromium on the motility parameters of Acipenser persicus sperm in vitro. For this evaluation semen samples were collected from 10 adult male broodstocks and were transported to the Central laboratory In the vicinity of ice. Then Sturgeon sperm were exposed for 0, 2, 4, 24, 48 and 72h to Chromium at0. 1 and 5 mg L− 1 concentrations. After this times percentage off motile spermatozoa and Duration of motility measurement. The results revealed that 5 mg L− 1 concentration of Chromium stay of motility after 2 h Incubation whiles The consentration of 0. 1 mg L− 1 Chromium significantly decreased sperm motility (p<0. 05) in 48 and 72 h. Percentage of sperm motility significantly reduced in initial incubation and not significant at another time. In conclusion, changes of sperm motility influence the reproduction efficiency and can reduce the reproductive success.

The family Meloidae (Coleoptera), commonly known as blister beetles, play an important role in biological control. This is due to the fact that the first instar larvae of most species feed on eggs of grasshopper. The present investigation was carried out during 2010-2011 and the specimens were collected randomly from different areas of Markazi province, Iran. The species collected were identified by means of morphological characters, geniltalia and acceptable identification keys. The species were then confirmed by Iranian research institute of plant protection and totally consisted of 25 species belonging to 8 genera from 5 tribes and 2 subfamilies. At last, identification keys for the species collected were provided as follows: Subfamily 1 Meloinae: Meloe variegatus Donovan, Meloe tuccius, Meloe proscarabaeus Linnaeus, Alosimus armeniacus (Faldermann), Lydus tenuiitarsis Abeille de Perrin, Oenas crasicornis Illiger, Mylabris quadripunctata Linneaus, Mylabris apicenigra Soumakov, Mylabris calida (Pallas), Mylabris cincta Olivier, Mylabris magnoguttata Kaszab, Mylabris groschkei Kaszab, Mylabris doriae Marseul, Mylabris klugi Redtenbacher Mylabris mirzayani (Kaszab), Hycleus colligatus, (Redtenbacher), Hycleus javeti (Marseul), Hycleus zebraeus (Marseul), Hycleus scabiosae (Olivier), Hycleus fuscus (Olivier), Cerocoma festiva Falderman, Cerocoma latreillei Faldermann, Cerocoma bodemeyeri Reitter. Subfamily 2 Nemognathinae: Nemognatha chrysomelina Fabricius.