A black background facilitates the response to stress in teleosts

This work examines the difference in responsiveness to stress which characterizes fish adapted to white and black backgrounds. Trout were maintained in black or white tanks for 2 weeks and then subjected to intermittent intense or moderate noise stress for periods between 1 h and 5 days, or to the stress of being injected daily with a large volume of liquid for 3 days. Plasma cortisol concentrations increased more readily and to a greater extent in fish from black tanks in response to moderate stress or brief intense stress. Dexamethasone suppressed the stress-induced rise of cortisol in white-adapted fish but was only partially effective in trout from black backgrounds. These differences in plasma cortisol between black- and white-adapted fish can be related to the different titres of plasma ACTH, apparently derived from the pars distalis. Removal of the neurointermediate lobe (NIL) from black-adapted eels markedly depressed the normal rise in plasma cortisol elicited by noise stress. It is suggested that products from the NIL may modulate the stress response of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis although other routes through which background colour could affect the pituitary responsiveness to stress are also considered. In several cases, stress also enhanced the secretion of MSH from the NIL.