Osmoregulation in juvenile Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray) during brackish water adaptation

The osmoregulation capabilities of 7-month-old juvenile Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray) (128.8 +/- 15 g) transferred directly from fresh water (0 per thousand, 46 mOsmol kg(-1)) to brackish water (10 per thousand, 273 mOsmol kg(-1)) were studied over a 20-day period. Changes in serum osmolarity, chloride (Cl(-)), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+) and calcium (Ca2+) ion concentrations, as well as gill and spiral valve Na+,K+-ATPase activities were measured at 3, 12, 24, 72, 216 and 480 h after transfer to BW. The serum osmolarity and ion concentrations (Na+, Cl(-) and Ca2+) increased immediately after the transference to BW, reaching maximum at 24 h and returned to a new steady state at 216 h, while the FW control group maintained basal levels which showed lower (P < 0.05) than the BW group. Gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity of BW group exhibited an abrupt decrease in the first 3 h after transfer, but began to increase at 3 h, reaching a peak value at 24 h, and returned to a new steady state at 216 h. The differences between gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity of BW and FW fish were significant (P < 0.05) after 12 h. In contrast, Na+,K+-ATPase activity of the spiral valve showed transient increase after transference from FW to BW, and then decreased rapidly at 3 h, reaching the lowest at 24 h after transference. At 216 h after exposure to BW, Na+,K+-ATPase activities of the spiral valve increased slowly to the levels of FW control. The results of our study indicate the existence of hyposmoregulatory adaptive mechanisms in 7-month-old juvenile Chinese sturgeon which enable this fish to acclimate itself successfully to brackish water.