Melatonin’in Tatlısu İstakozu (Pontastacus Leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823) Yavrularında Gelişim, Hayatta Kalma Orani ve Bağışıklık Sistemi Üzerindeki Etkisi

What is it about?

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of melatonin on growth, survival and immune response (total hemocyte counts) of Pontastacus leptodactylus juveniles (stage II-IV). With this aim, five separate groups with 4 replicates were formed by adding melatonin at the doses of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 mg/kg to the trial feed. The experiments was conducted using stage II P. leptodactylus juveniles which fed for 60 days. During the experiments, a 50% water change once a day and continuous ventilation was provided. Stock density was determined as 20 juveniles for each replicate tank. The juveniles were fed at rate of 5% of their body weight once a day. The average initial weight and total length of juveniles were 34 ± 4 mg and 11.6 ± 0.4 mm, repectively. At the end of the experiment, the maximum average total length (22.0 ± 3.6 mm) was in the group fed with 2 mg/kg melatonin containing diet, the best average live weight (216 ± 116 mg) was in the group fed with 4 mg/kg melatonin containing diet, the highest survival rate (44.4 ± 13.9%) was in the 2 mg/kg melatonin group and the highest average total hemocyte count (2.27 ± 0.49 x 106 cells/ml) was in the 2 mg/kg melatonin group. However, the differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). As a result of this study, it was determined that feeding with melatonin supplemented feed have no significant effect on growth, survival and immune response of P. leptodactylus juveniles. Keywords: Crayfish, P. leptodactylus, melatonin, survival rate, growth

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Photo by Alyona Bogomolova on Unsplash