Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2017) 5(4): 236-245; DOI:  

ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956

Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com 
© 2017 Iranian Society of Ichthyology 

Original Article 
Responses of beluga (Huso huso) to salinity exposure: a laboratory evaluation of the effect of 

field-based salinity levels on osmoregulatory characteristics and growth performance 

  
Ali Jalali1, 2, 3*, Mohammad Sudagar1, Seyed Mostafa Aghilinejhad1, 3, Hamed Kolangi Miandare1 

 
1Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran. 

2Center for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. 
3Sturgeon Affairs Management of Golestan Province, Gorgan, Iran.

 
Article history: 
Received 6 March 2017 

Accepted 24 July 2017 

Available online 2 5 August 2017 

Keywords:  
Blood biochemistry 

Juvenile sturgeon 

Osmoregulation 

Acclimation 

Sturgeon rearing 

Abstract: There is a need for a better understanding of how sturgeon, especially hatchery reared 
juveniles, respond to salinity challenges. Therefore, here we examined the effects of different field-

based salinities (Freshwater [FW] (0.5), 3, 6, 9 and 12 ppt) on osmoregulatory characteristics and 

growth performance of juvenile beluga sturgeon, Huso huso, (22.1±1.1 g body weight) over a 60-

day period. Survival rate was relatively high in all treatments although there was a sign of adverse 

effects of salinity on the survival as fish at 12 ppt salinity. Growth performance was better in fish 

reared at 3 ppt, followed by 6, 9 and 12 ppt. Overall, an increase in plasma sodium, potassium, 

calcium, magnesium and glucose levels was found in association with the increase of salinity, while 

the FW control group maintained basal levels. Haematocrit levels were also affected by the salinity 

and the observed levels in FW, 3 and 6 ppt salinities were lower than other salinity concentrations. 

The results indicated that the beluga sturgeon juveniles are able to survive and acclimate to moderate 

salinities. Here, we also discussed the importance of evaluating and comparing specific mechanisms 

of acclimation in populations across brackish waters of the southern Caspian Sea as such 

investigations may aid and improve aquaculture strategies. 
 

Introduction 

Sturgeons are migratory species that occur in major 

river systems of the northern hemisphere (Bemis and 

Kynard, 1997; Grande and Bemis, 1991), especially in 

the Caspian Sea basin. Most sturgeon species have 

been listed on the IUCN red list of endangered species 

due to the drastic declines in their wild populations 

(Birstein, 1993; Birstein et al., 1997; IUCN, 2012), 

and many are unfortunately at the brink of extinction. 

Overfishing, poaching, pollution and habitat 

degradation are the major threats to sturgeon longevity 

and sustainability (Pourkazemi, 2006; Ruban and 

Khodorevskaya, 2011). Many efforts have been made, 

especially in the past decade, to protect sturgeons, and 

aquaculture plans for restoration, conservation and 

commercial purposes have received the most attempt 

and attention. In Iran, Fisheries Organization has 

widely been involved in breeding programs to develop 

                                                           
*Corresponding author: Ali Jalali                                                                                               DOI: https://doi.org/10.22034/ijab.v5i4.285 

E-mail address: jalalifc@gmail.com 

sturgeon aquaculture and restock sturgeon popul-

ations, so that thousands of sturgeon fingerlings are 

released into the Caspian Sea annually or kept for 

sturgeon rearing to meet meat and caviar demands.  

Acipenseriformes are similar to teleosts with 

respect to the main features of their osmoregulation 

(Potts and Rudy, 1972; Krayushkina et al., 1995). Fish 

challenged with an altered environmental salinity 

must maintain their body osmolality and ionic 

balance. Therefore, it is necessary for both sturgeons 

and teleosts to maintain rather tight control of serum 

water and ion concentration for efficient physiological 

function when they move between fresh water and salt 

water (Natochin et al., 1985; Krayushkina et al., 

1995). This is mainly accomplished by profound 

morphological and physiological changes, such as 

drinking rate (Tytler and Blaxter, 1988; Ura et al., 

1996; Miyazaki et al., 1998), stress hormone levels, 



237 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2017) 5(4): 236-245 

 
which can disturb hydromineral balance and blood 

parameters such as haematocrit (Woo and Chung, 

1995; Wendelaar Bonga, 1997; Brown et al., 2001) 

and functions of the osmoregulatory surfaces (Hwang 

and Hirano, 1985; Hwang et al., 1989; Arai et al., 

1997; Perry, 1998; Kelly and Woo, 1999). 

There are a variety of studies assessing osmo-

regulatory mechanisms and salinity tolerance in 

sturgeon species, and it has been documented that 

many sturgeons species are able to adapt different 

salinity ranges (McEnroe and Cech, 1985; 

Krayushkina, 1996; Krayushkina, 1998; Altinok et al., 

1998; Martinz Alvarez et al., 2002; Jarvis and 

Ballantyne, 2003; Allen and Cech, 2007; He et al., 

2009; Zhao et al., 2010). However, exposure length, 

fish size and age appear to play key roles in adaptation 

capacity as salinity tolerance may decrease especially 

when fish in smaller sizes are subjected to high 

salinities. It has previously been suggested that 

salinity can also affect fish growth, and an interaction 

between growth and salinity has been demonstrated in 

several fish species (Altinok and Grizzle, 2001; Wada 

et al., 2004; Martinez-Palácios et al., 2004; Tibblin et 

al., 2012). In tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, its 
rearing in sea water is resulted in an improved growth 

performance compared to freshwater (Kuwaye et al., 

1993; Riley et al., 2003). Improved growth at 

intermediate salinity may be explained by a reduction 

of the metabolic cost for osmoregulation, whereas 

appetite and/or the endocrine system may also play a 

role (Boeuf and Payan, 2001). Sardella and Kultz 

(2009) demonstrated that green sturgeon, Acipenser 
medirostris, with a mean weight of 121 g were able to 
survive and acclimate following a salinity transfer and 

they observed minimal osmotic stress in the exposed 

fish. Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon, A. oxyrinchus, with a 
mean weight of 440 g were reared under three salinity 

conditions (0, 10, or 33 ppt) for 6 months and it was 

found that fish in 0 and 10 ppt grew more than those 

of 33 ppt (Allen et al., 2014). In contrast, after 30 days 

rearing, Zhao et al. (2010) did not observe significant 
effect of salinity exposure (up to 25 ppt) on the growth 

of 5-month-old Amur sturgeon, A. schrenckii, with a 
mean initial body weight of 106.8 g. However, growth 

performance in sturgeons under different saline 

environments appears to be species dependent and can 

also be impacted by the size of fish (Allen and Cech, 

2007).  

There are few studies on the effects of salinity on 

the Caspian Sea sturgeons, especially beluga sturgeon. 

Although previous studies have shown that sturgeons 

are capable of adopting different salinities, however, 

it has also been indicated that adaptation capacity in 

small juveniles reduces as they may not be able to 

tolerate even brackish waters (Jalali et al., 2008). 
Thus, detailed information regarding the salinity 

effects and during a various exposure times can 

provide a better understanding of sturgeon responses 

to environmental challenges. It can also be a useful 

method for aiding aquaculture programs especially 

when the fish are kept for coastal-based-rearing and 

aquaculture purposes. Sea-cage-based and pen culture 

of sturgeons have recently been considered in the 

Iranian part of the Caspian Sea as it can provide an 

alternative to wild stocks and for supply of sturgeon 

meat and caviar. Thus, in this study we selected filed-

based salinity doses of freshwater (FW), 3, 6, 9 and 12 

ppt representing salinity ranges that the beluga are 

likely to encounter in the Iranian part of the Caspian 

Sea. We then aimed to assess osmoregulatory 

characteristics (including sodium, potassium, calcium 
and magnesium concentrations), survival and growth 

performance of beluga (Huso huso) juveniles to these 
salinities over two months, a relatively long 

experimental period.  

 

Materials and Methods 

Fish rearing conditions: Five months old beluga with 
a mean body weight of 22.1±1.1 g (mean±SD) were 

obtained from the Shahid Marjani Sturgeon 

Propagation Center (Aq Qala, Golestan Province, 

Iran). Fish were transferred to the Aquaculture 

Research Centre at the University of Gorgan, then 

stocked in five groups with triplicate per group (200 L 

tanks with a stocking density of 15 fish per tank), and 

cultured in FW (0.5), 3, 6, 9 and 12 ppt for 60 days. 

Acclimation to salinity was performed by increasing 

water salinity at an approximate rate of 3 ppt per day 



238 
 

Jalali et al./ Growth performance and physiological parameters of beluga in response to salinity 

until reaching 12 ppt. Salinity levels were obtained by 

mixing dechlorinated tap water with salt, and 

measured by water checker (HORIBA U-10, Japan). 

Temperature was kept at 21°C, and supplemental 

aeration was also provided to maintain dissolved 

oxygen levels near saturation. The photoperiod was 

maintained at 13 h light /11 h dark. During the 

experiment, the fish were fed three times a day with 

the same commercial pellet diet (approximately 3% of 

body weight/day; 54% protein, 18% lipid, 11% ash 

and 0.3% fiber; Biomar Company). The amount of 

feed offered was daily recorded for food conversion 

ratio calculation. The tanks were siphoned daily to 

remove uneaten feed and feces. In each tank, half the 

water volume was renewed every day to assure water 

quality. It was tried to minimize any other stress 

during the entire period of the experiment. 

Sampling and data analysis: At the end of the 
experiment, feeding was discontinued 24 hrs prior to 

measurements and all fish were weighed and growth 

parameters were calculated: specific growth rate ({[Ln 

final body weight-Ln initial body weight] × 100}/total 

days), feed conversion ratio (dry feed fed/body weight 

gain) and condition factor ({[body weight/body length 

(cm3)] × 100}) (Lugert et al., 2014; Shalaby et al., 

2006). Percent of survival were also calculated. 

In order to evaluate the haematocrit (% PCV), ions 

(sodium [Na+], potassium [K
+], calcium [Ca

2+] and 
magnesium [Mg2+]) and glucose concentrations, the 

blood was collected from the caudal vein of individual 

fish employing heparinized syringes. Blood samples 

were centrifuged at 16000 g for 5 min in a clinical 

centrifuge (Hettich-D7200, Tuttlingen, Germany) for 

haematocrit evaluation. The blood plasma was 

decanted and pipetted into Eppendorf tubes and 

preserved at -20°C. In order to evaluate how different 

salinities impact plasma ion concentrations, sodium 

(Na+) and potassium (K+) concentrations were 

measured with flame photometer (Corning 405C: 

IRI). Magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+) and glucose 

concentrations were measured with an absorption 

spectrophotometer (UNICO 3115233: USA) (Hoseini 

et al., 2011).   

Statistical analysis: Data were initially checked for 

normality and homogeneity of variance (using Bartlett 

and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests) and then salinity was 

considered as the independent variable and fish 

haematological, biochemical and growth parameters 

as the dependent variables. Data were analyzed by 

one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 

Duncan’s new multiple range tests (SPSS software 

version 18). Statistical values are expressed as 

mean±SD. The values of P<0.05 were considered 

significantly different. 

 

Results 

Biochemical and haematological variables: The blood 
plasma electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, 

calcium, magnesium and glucose concentrations were 

affected by increasing the salinity, and significant 

differences were observed among treatments 

(P<0.05). Plasma sodium concentration was higher in 

the fish reared at 9 and 12 ppt salinities and there was 

a decline in the levels of this parameter with decrease 

in salinity (Fig. 1a). Plasma potassium was also higher 

in the fish exposed to 9 and 12 ppt salinities (Fig. 1b). 

Plasma calcium and magnesium levels showed a 

relatively similar patterns, with high concentrations in 

the fish reared at 6, 9 and 12 ppt salinities (Fig. 1c-d). 

Glucose level in fish exposed to FW (0.5 ppt) , and 3 

and 6 ppt salinities was lower compared to other 

treatments, and it raised at higher salinities (Fig. 1e). 

Haematocrit levels of fish reared at salinities of 0.5, 3 

and 6 ppt were lower than those of 9 and 12 ppt 

salinities (Fig. 1f).  

Survival and growth performance: Although survival 
was relatively high in all groups, there were some 

significant differences among salinity treatments in 

term of survival rate (Fig. 2), and fish subjected to 12 

ppt salinity had lower survival compared to the fish 

exposed to other salinity levels (P<0.05). There was 

no significant difference in survival rate between 

salinities of 3, 6 ppt and 9 ppt. Growth parameters 

were significantly different between treatments 

(P<0.05; Table 1). Fish reared at lower salinities (FW, 

3 and 6 ppt) showed higher final weight, final length 
and specific growth rates compared to the fish reared 

at higher salinities (Table 1, P<0.05). Condition factor 



239 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2017) 5(4): 236-245 

 

 

Figure 1. Trends in the levels of (a) sodium [Na+], (b) potassium [K+], (c) calcium [Ca2+], (d) magnesium [Mg2+], (e) glucose and (f) haematocrit 

in the blood samples of beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) on the 0th day and 60th day of the experiment. Data are presented as mean (±SD). Groups 
having different letters are significantly different (P<0.05). 

Table 1. Growth parameters of juvenile beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) after a 60-day rearing period at various salinities. 

Parameters Treatments 

 Freshwater (0.5) Salinity 3 Salinity 6 Salinity 9 Salinity 12 

Initial weight (g/fish) 22.3±1.0a 22.0±1.0a 21.9±1.0 a 22.2±1.2 a 22.2±1.3a 

Final weight (g/fish) 102.2±3.7a 105.5±2.6b 103.3±3.6a 97.8±3.1c 97.0±2.7c 

Initial length (cm) 19.7±0.4a 19.8±0.3a 19.8±0.2a 19.9±0.2a 19.8±0.1a 

Final length (cm) 31.0±1.1a 32.3±1.1b 30.9±1.7a 28.8±1.7c 28.5±1.4 c 

SGR1 2.53±0.01a 2.61±0.02b 2.57±0.01b 2.46±0.03c 2.45±0.01c 

FCR2 1.7±0.10a 1.61±0.07a 1.71±0.12a 1.88±0.07b 1.95±0.05b 

CF3 0.33±0.005a 0.30±0.01b 0.34±0.005a 0.40±0.01c 0.41±0.01c 

Note: 1Specific growth rate, 2food conversion ratio and 3condition factor; Means in the same row with different superscripts 

are significantly different (P<0.05); Data are presented as mean ±SD 



240 
 

Jalali et al./ Growth performance and physiological parameters of beluga in response to salinity 

in the fish exposed to 9 and 12 ppt salinities was higher 

than those of lower salinities (P<0.05). In addition, 

food conversion ratio increased when fish were 

subjected to 9 and 12 ppt (P<0.05).  

 

Discussion 

The results of the present study showed how juvenile 

beluga sturgeon respond when exposed to brackish 

water in terms of osmoregulatory ion concentrations, 

survival, and growth. Fish were acclimated to several 

salinity ranges (FW (0.5) to 12 ppt) by increasing 

water salinity at a rate of 3 ppt per day. These doses 

and rate of increase were chosen on the basis of 

conditions that juvenile beluga sturgeon may 

encounter in the Iranian part of the Caspian Sea 

especially if they are kept for pen- and cage-based 

culture. Although fish at low salinities showed a 

greater survival rate, the difference in survival 

between the lowest (FW) and the highest (12 ppt) 

salinities was 6.3% after 60 days. Thus, it appears that 

five-month-old juvenile beluga sturgeon is able to 

acclimate to brackish water with salinity doses close 

to the concentrations observed in the southern Caspian 

Sea. In this regard, previous studies also indicated that 

salinity tolerance in sturgeons is improved after 

acclimation to different salinity levels (McEnroe and 

Cech, 1985; Altinok et al., 1998; McKenzie et al., 

2001). Such acclimation is probably needed to initiate 

enzymatic and cellular osmoregulatory changes 

necessary for withstanding osmotic challenge 

(Morgan et al., 1997; Morgan and Iwama, 1999).  

Nonetheless, fish body size appear to largely 

influence the process of successful acclimation to 

salinity changes. Several studies have indicated that 

osmoregulatory abilities are positively correlated with 

fish size and larger fish show less sensitivity due to the 

structural and physiological developments during 

their ontogeny (McEnroe and Cech, 1987; Altinok et 

al., 1998; LeBreton and Beamish 1998; Cataldi et al., 

1999; Allen and Cech, 2007; Jalali et al., 2010; Allen 

et al., 2011). These mechanisms, however, relatively 

differ amongst sturgeon species due mainly to the 

species specific osmoregulatory characteristics and 

life history. For example, juvenile green sturgeon, 

A. medirostris, are capable of surviving seawater (34 
ppt) and near brackish water (15 ppt) concentrations 

even following an immediate transfer (Sardella and 

Kultz, 2009; Allen et al. 2011). But according to the 

previous investigation, abrupt transfer to such 

concentrations would lead a serious osmotic shock 

and catastrophic mortality in juvenile beluga sturgeon 

especially at small and fingerling range sizes (Jalali et 

al., 2010). This is probably related to the species 

evolutionary history. Green sturgeons move between 

oceanic waters and freshwater encountering an 

extended salinity ranges (0 to 35 ppt) within their 

habitats. In contrast, average salinity recorded in the 

northern and southern Caspian Sea respectively fall 

around 9 and 13 ppt  (near an isosmotic medium), 

about a third salinity of most seawater. Therefore, 

compared to other sturgeon species rearing at higher 

salinities or migrating to oceans, Caspian Sea sturgeon 

including beluga sturgeon habitats occur within 

relatively limited salinity ranges and this is likely to 

affect Caspian sturgeon’s salinity tolerance. However, 

it has generally been said that salt tolerance is poor for 

early life history stages of sturgeon. Therefore, more 

detailed assessment of how tolerance to a salinity 

gradient evolves in sturgeons could provide a better 

understanding of species and environmental 

associations. In addition, this would help successful 

aquaculture plans in producing sturgeon meat 

considering that high potential exist along the Caspian 

Sea to develop sturgeon aquaculture. 

Figure 2. The beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) survival (%) exposed to 
different salinities over a 60-day experimental period. Data are 

presented as mean (±SD). Groups having different letters are 

significantly different (P<0.05). 



241 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2017) 5(4): 236-245 

 
There are numerous similarities in osmoregulatory 

mechanisms between sturgeon and teleosts such as the 

composition of the blood parameters (i.e. plasma 

osmolality and electrolyte concentrations) in both 

fresh water and sea water. They are hyperosmotic with 

respect to fresh water and hyposmotic with respect to 

salt water (Holmes and Donaldson, 1969). In this 

experiment, we detected an increase in electrolyte 

concentrations with enhance in salinity. Our results 

indicated an elevation in haematocrit levels after 60 

days exposure especially to 12 ppt salinity whereas 

these levels were low in the fish reared at lower 

salinities. A previous study indicated that haematocrit 

levels rose in juvenile shortnose sturgeon, 

A. brevirostrum, after 10 weeks in hyperosmotic 
conditions (Jarvis and Ballantyne, 2003). On the other 

hand, the haematocrit levels were not different 

between long-term fresh water and salt water-

acclimated juvenile Adriatic sturgeon, A. naccarii, and 
Gulf sturgeons, A. oxyrinchus (Altinok et al., 1998; 
Martinez-Alvarez et al., 2002). It has been shown that 

stressful conditions can lead to alterations in 

haematocrit levels and an elevated haematocrit level 

can reflect a stress response in fish (Soivio and 

Nikinmaa, 1981; Maxime et al., 1990; Franklin et al., 

1992). It may also reflect haemo-concentration or 

demand of fish to oxygen because of the increased 

respiratory demand caused by salinity exposure, 

although there is no evidence for this theory as this 

study did not evaluate oxygen demands in the exposed 

fish and such demand could also be species-dependent   

(Ern et al., 2014). 

The results indicated that plasma sodium, 

potassium, calcium and magnesium contents 

increased when the fish were reared in brackish water, 

and ion concentrations were higher at 9 and 12 ppt 

treatments. These alternations can be due to changes 

in the water content in the blood, resulted from the 

change in environmental salinity as indicated in other 

salt water-exposed sturgeons (Plaut, 1998; 

Krayushkina, 1998; McKenzie et al., 1999; Martınez-

Alvarez et al., 2002; He et al., 2009). Sturgeons hatch 

and grow at least initially in fresh water and thus, they 

regulate at elevated ion homeostasis levels in 

hyperosmotic salinities (McEnroe and Cech, 1987; 

Altinok et al., 1998; Krayushkina, 1998; Rodriguez et 

al., 2002). Changes in blood and osmotic parameters 

have been shown to be time-dependent as the levels 

return to steady state during the acclimation period 

when the fish remain at a constant salinity and reach 

homeostasis. When fish is exposed to the concentrated 

environment, it loses water and the content of the 

elements in the blood increases. Fish would 

consequently tend to ingest more water to dilute the 

level of the blood parameters (He et al., 2009; Allen 

and Cech, 2007). At the end, the contents of these 

parameters reach the constant levels as a consequence 

of the rest of the osmoregulatory mechanisms, which 

act to re-establish the extracellular volume salinity 

(Martınez-Alvarez et al., 2002; He et al., 2009). 

Glucose is an essential fuel for various tissues and its 

level in plasma was also higher in the fish-kept at 9 

and 12 ppt treatments. It has previously been indicated 

that glucose showed both a rise (Bashamohideen and 

Parvatheswararao, 1972; Assem and Hanke, 1979) 

and a fall (Soengas et al., 1991; Krumschnabel and 

Lackner, 1993; Allen and Cech, 2007) during 

seawater adaptation. The plasma glucose proliferation 

can be affected by cortisol changes though cortisol 

level was not evaluated here. Nonetheless, there 

appears to be a high glucose demand to supply the 

energy by osmoregulatory mechanisms (Krum-

schnabel and Lackner, 1993; Plaut, 1998), where upon 

glyconeogenesis even increases (Jürss and Bittorf, 

1990).  

Growth performance and food conversion ratio in 

the fish reared at low salinities (FW, 3 and 6 ppt) were 

significantly higher than those of fish reared at higher 

salinities. In the case of marine teleost fish, several 

authors reported better performance at intermediate 

salinities. Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, larvae reared 
at 7, 14 and 28 ppt, showed higher growth rates at the 

intermediate salinity (14 ppt), possibly due to a more 

efficient conversion ratio (Lambert et al., 1994). 

Whitefish larvae, Chirostoma estor estor, exhibited 
greater specific growth rates at 10 and 15 ppt, 

compared to those at 0 and 5 ppt, but net production, 

based on survival and growth, was clearly superior at 



242 
 

Jalali et al./ Growth performance and physiological parameters of beluga in response to salinity 

10 ppt, with a very low response at 0 ppt (Martinez-

Palácios et al., 2004). Wada et al. (2004) found that 

growth rates in spotted halibut, Verasper variegatus, 
juveniles kept at 8 and 16 ppt were higher than fish 

kept at 32 ppt (control) and at 4 ppt. Specific growth 

rates in Gulf sturgeon, A. oxyrinchus, were higher at 
3 and 9 ppt compared to those of fresh water (Altinok 

and Grizzle, 2001). Jarvis et al. (2001) found that 

weight gain and feed conversion efficiency in juvenile 

shortnose sturgeon was the highest in fresh water, and 

the lowest at 20 ppt, the highest salinity tested. 

Juvenile Adriatic sturgeon, A. naccarii, had lower 
specific growth rates and food conversion efficiencies 

at 20 than 0 ppt (McKenzie et al., 1999) and lower 

specific growth rates at 11 than 0 ppt (McKenzie et al., 

2001). A recent study by Allen et al. (2014) indicated 

that growth rate in Atlantic sturgeon was greater at 0 

and 10 ppt than in seawater (33 ppt). The beluga 

sturgeon in this study also grew better in near 

freshwater and lower salinity medium. Physiological 

and structural changes in fish following exposure to 

higher salinities require energy which may negatively 

impact the growth due to an increased osmoregulatory 

costs. Although juveniles of many fish species grow 

optimally in intermediate salinities (Boeuf and Payan, 

2001), the results obtained from sturgeon species vary 

probably due to life history, age/body size differences, 

species-specific morphophysiological mechanisms 

and osmoregulatory ability.  

It can be concluded that juvenile beluga sturgeon 

are capable to acclimate, grow and survive in brackish 

water. This capability can lead the selection of beluga 

sturgeon as a good candidate for pen and cage culture 

in brackish water of the Iranian area of the Caspian 

Sea. Nonetheless, it should be noted that initial salinity 

adaptation plays a key role in survivorship and growth 

rates in saline environments. 

 

Acknowledgments 

The authors wish to thank Shahid Marjani Sturgeon 

Center for their assistance in providing specimens. We 

are also grateful to the aquaculture research center and 

the laboratory of biology at Gorgan University of 

Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources 

(GUASNR) for accessing their equipment and 

facilities. The project was supported by financial 

supported by GUASNR. 

 

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Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2017) 5(4): 236-245 

E-ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956

Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com 

© 2017 Iranian Society of Ichthyology 

 چکیده فارسی

 

 روی طبیعی محیط هایغلظت بر مبتنی شوری اثرات آزمایشگاهی ارزیابی: شوری به (Huso huso) ماهیفیل  پاسخ

 رشد کارایی و اسمزی تنطیم
  

 1میاندره کلنگی حامد ،3،1نژاد عقیلی مصطفی سید ،1سوداگر محمد ،3 ،2 ،1*جاللی علی

 .ایران گرگان، گرگان، طبیعی منابع و کشاورزی علوم دانشگاه زیست، محیط و شیالت دانشکده1
 .استرالیا ویکتوریا، دیکین، دانشگاه محیطی، و زیستی علوم دانشکده2

 .ایران گلستان، استان خاویاری ماهیان امور مدیریت3

 

  چکیده:

 شوری اثرات مطالعه، این در. است ضروری پرورشی جوان تاسماهیان در ویژهبه شوری محیطی چالش به خاویاری ماهیان پاسخ چگونگی بهتر درک

 وزن گرم Huso huso( )22/1) ماهیفیل  بچه کارایی و اسمزی تنظیم روی( لیتر در گرم 12 و 9 ،6 ،3 ،5/0)  طبیعی محیط هایغلظت بر مبتنی

 شوری جانبی عوارض از ای نشانه اگرچه ،بود باال نسبتاً آزمایش دوره تمام در ماندگاری نرخ. گرفت قرار بررسی مورد روزه 60 دوره یک طی در( اولیه

 هاگروه سایر از بهتر لیتر در گرم 3 شوری در یافته پرورش ماهیان در رشد عملکرد. گردید مشاهده لیتر در گرم 12 شوری در ماهیان بقای میزان بر

 و زیممنی کلسیم، پتاسیم، سدیم، سطح افزایش کلی،طوربه. داشتند را رشد بیشترین ترتیببه 12 و 9 ،6 هایشوری در ماهیان آن از پس و بود،

 اتوکریتهم سطح. داشت را پارامترها این اولیه سطوح( شیرین بآ) کنترل گروه که حالی در شد، مشاهده شوری افزایش با ارتباط در پالسما در گلوکز

 نشان نتایج. بود هاغلظت سایر از ترپایین 6 و 3 شوری شیرین، آب گروه ماهیان در هماتوکریت تغییرات و گرفت قرار تاثیر تحت شوری توسط نیز

 آب رد شوری به سازگاری خاص هایمکانیسم مقایسه و ارزیابی اهمیت. بودند متوسط شوری با انطباق و ماندن زنده به قادر ماهیانفیل  بچه که داد

 ایهاستراتژی بهبود به تواندمی تحقیقاتی چنین انجام از حاصل نتایج. گرفت قرار بحث مورد مطالعه این در خزر دریای جنوبی منطقه شورلب

 .نماید کمک تاسماهیان پروریآبزی

 .تاسماهیان پرورش ،سازگاری ،اسمزی تنظیم ،جوان خاویاری ماهی ،خون بیوشیمی :کلمات کلیدی