Alternation of physiological states during the annual cycle (pre-spawning mobilization, spawning energy loss, post-spawning accumulation of energy reserve, declined metabolic activity during the wintering) occurring in the wide temperature range requires high plasticity of fish defense systems. The article presents a 2-year study of hepatic antioxidant defenses and lipid peroxidation in the temperate cyprinid fish, common bream Abramis brama (L.), in relation to basic annual rhythms, such as photoperiodic and temperature cycling, reproduction and feeding activity. The objective of the study was to evaluate the plasticity of antioxidant defenses in bream under normal conditions throughout the annual cycle, by measuring hepatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase activities and reduced glutathione concentrations) and products of lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentrations). The results suggested that hepatic levels of antioxidants in bream varied dramatically during the annual cycle allowing bream to develop necessary adaptation and implement reproduction program. The lowest values of all studied antioxidants were witnessed in the middle of winter. In early spring, antioxidant enzyme activities increased rapidly reaching their maxima in late spring and summer. Toward the end of autumn, enzyme activities were declining toward the levels observed before the ice breakup. Spring–summer up-regulation of antioxidant defenses along with increased lipid peroxidation indicated bream to be experiencing mild oxidative stress.

This article presents the results of analysis of parameters of the immune, antioxidant, and monooxygenase systems in the immunocompetent organs (pro- and mesonephros, spleen, and liver) of species...

Raw data were obtained from 250 specimens of roach Rutilus rutilus and 274 specimens of perch Perca fluviatilis at 15 sampling sites located from North to South Taiga. Fish sampling was performed using gill-nets with 22 and 28 mm mesh. Total and eviscerated weights, total and standard lengths, fish sex, gonad weight and maturity stage were recorded. Linear regression analysis of log-transformed total weight and total length values was performed. Regression slope and intercept were used to obtain length-weight relationships and mean condition factor values. Length-length relationships were calculated by the linear regression between the total and standard lengths. Gonadosomatic index was determined using the gonad weight and the total weight of fish. The data are useful for establishing biomass, fish growth patterns, relative condition of individuals within a sample or across populations.

This article presents data on the mesonephros histology and ultrastructure in the Atlantic salmon from the Baltic Sea and Barents Sea populations, with an emphasis on comparisons between the following ontogenetic stages: parr, smolting, adult life at sea, the adults’ return to their natal river to spawn, and spawning. The ultrastructural changes in the renal corpuscle and cells of the proximal tubules of the nephron occurred as early as the smolting stage. Such changes reflect fundamental alterations during the pre-adaptation to life in saltwater. In the Barents Sea population, the adult salmon sampled in the sea had the smallest diameters of the renal corpuscle and proximal and distal tubules, the most narrow urinary space, and the thickest basement membrane. In the group of salmon that entered the mouth of the river and spent less than 24 h in freshwater, the structural rearrangements occurred only in the distal tubules. Better development of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and a greater abundance of mitochondria in the tubule cells were observed in the adult salmon from the Barents Sea compared to those from the Baltic Sea. Cell-immunity activation was initiated during the parr–smolt transformation. Another pronounced innate-immunity response was registered in the adults returning to the river to spawn.

The study presents new data on the structural and functional organization of the mesonephros of the grayling Thymallus thymallus (Linnaeus, 1758). Adult grayling were sampled in the middle course of the Unya River, a tributary of the Pechora River (Komi Republic, Russia). The mesonephros of the grayling, as of other freshwater fishes, is composed by nephrons, blood vessels and hematopoietic tissue forming the renal interstice. In the interstice, сells with a radial vesicle array and chloride cells were discovered; the latter were mostly localized near the renal tubules. The degree of the interstice development in the mesonephros of the grayling was determined. New data on the ultrastructure of leukocytes, cells with a radial vesicle array, chloride cells, and nephron segments were obtained. A lack of mesangial cells, a small number of podocytes, and a thin basement membrane were observed on the sections of a renal corpuscle, being characteristic features of the ultrathin organization of the mesonephros in freshwater members of Salmoniformes and Esociformes. In the grayling’s nephrons, no neck segment was found, which was reported earlier for several species, including mammals. On the sections of proximal tubules, the ciliated cells were rare, and large amounts of the tubular-vesicular network in the zone of endocytosis of the type II epithelial cells were observed. On the sections of distal tubules, short blade-shaped cytoplasmic processes, with large numbers of invaginations of cytoplasmic membrane, were found. On the basis of the distinctive ultrastructure features mentioned above, the inference that grayling show the cytological markers of adaptation to euryhalinity was made. Thus, the results contribute to the knowledge of mesonephros development in fishes during their life history. From the species protection standpoint, our study provides baseline data on a WBC differential in the mesonephros as well as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activities, which can be used in further studies addressing the health status of grayling populations.