Physiological and Energy Metabolism Responses of Chinese Loach Paramisgurnus dabryanus (Dabry de Thiersant, 1872) to Waterless Preservation during Transport

To investigate waterless stress during transport from aquacultures to sale points on the physiological and energy-metabolism properties of Paramisgurnus dabryanus, to improve for improving traditional preservation methods, the levels of glucose, cortisol, triglyceride, and cholesterol in serum and the activities of hexokinase (HK), pyruvate kinase (PK), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in muscle were determined. Chinese loaches were subjected to water, less-water, and no-water conditions for 8h. Less-water and no-water stress significantly increased cortisol concentration in serum, while triglycerides and total cholesterol levels slightly decreased. In the initial stages of stress, glucose dropped dramatically and then recovered gradually, eventually exceeding that in the control group. The activities of HK, PK, and LDH increased and then decreased. While HK and PK activities were significantly higher at the end than at the beginning of the stress, LDH activity returned to its pre-stress level. Under less-water and no-water stresses, SDH activity first decreased and then increased. Overall, there were no significant differences between less-water and no-water groups in the measured parameters, except SDH, at the end of the experiment, and variations in all parameters were similar. Waterless preservation conditions resulted in acute stress, acute hyperglycemia, and energetic compensation.