Flow cytometry and automatic blood cell analysis in striped bass Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792): A new hematological approach

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Why is it important?

This research was carried out in order to compare two innovative analytical methods for the evaluation of blood cells (white blood cells, WBC; red blood cells, RBC and thrombocytes, TC) in Striped bass Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792). For this purpose, the automatic blood cell count and the flow cytometry analysis were employed to analyze blood samples of 20 adult specimens of M. saxatilis, bred in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) of a fish farm located in Acate (Ragusa, Sicily, Italy). Statistical analysis of the data has shown a significant positive correlation between the two analytical methods only for WBC (r=0.95) and RBC (r=0.97). No significant correlation was found for TC (r=−0.18). This study aims to contribute to the knowledge on blood cell analysis with reliable automatic methods applicable in aquaculture which represent an important and useful tool for the diagnosis of fish diseases.