Gas bubble trauma progression and mortality in sculpin, threespine stickleback, and Northern pikeminnow
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Abstract
We examined the progression of gas bubble trauma (GBT) and associated mortality in sculpin (Cottus spp.), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and Northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) exposed to three levels of total dissolved gas (TDG; 120, 125, and 130% saturation) in laboratory experiments. Sculpin were most sensitive to elevated TDG followed by stickleback and then pikeminnow, which were least sensitive. This was evidenced by GBT and associated mortality progressing fastest in sculpin and slowest in pikeminnow. GBT incidence and severity increased through time at all TDG levels tested, but relationships between severity and exposure time were statistically weak or nonexistent. GBT mortality progressed more rapidly as TDG increased in all species. Regional criteria developed to rank GBT in salmonids did not fully capture the incidence and severity of GBT in the three nonsalmonids we examined. Rather, using criteria that considered all areas of the fish provided more accurate data. The lateral line, body, dorsal fin, and pectoral fins were common locations of GBT in sculpin whereas in stickleback and pikeminnow, GBT was most common on the head and body. The proximate cause of GBT-related death was bubbles in the gills and heart, but unlike in other species, bubbles in these organs appeared rapidly just before the point of death. Our findings provide some of the first information on TDG effects on these little-studied species.
Suggested Citation
Tiffan, K.F., Liedtke, B.D., 2025, Gas bubble trauma progression and mortality in sculpin, threespine stickleback, and Northern pikeminnow: Northwest Science, v. 98, no. 3, p. 174-189, https://doi.org/10.3955/046.098.0301.
ISSN: 2161-9859 (online)
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Gas bubble trauma progression and mortality in sculpin, threespine stickleback, and Northern pikeminnow |
| Series title | Northwest Science |
| DOI | 10.3955/046.098.0301 |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Year Published | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | BioOne |
| Contributing office(s) | Western Fisheries Research Center |
| Description | 16 p. |
| First page | 174 |
| Last page | 189 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon, Washington |
| Other Geospatial | Bonneville Dam, Columbia River, Ives Island, Snake River |