Sodium-retaining activity of chum salmon prolactin in some euryhaline teleosts

Sodium-retaining activity of chum salmon prolactin (PRL) was examined in several euryhaline teleosts. Chum PRL was 100 times more potent than ovine PRL in maintaining plasma sodium levels in the hypophysectomized killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, transferred from 50% seawater to fresh water. The effects of PRLs were parabolic, high doses of the hormones being less effective than low doses. When injected into seawater-adapted fry of the ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis, or into juvenile rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, adapted to 50% seawater, a dose-dependent increase in plasma sodium was observed. Chum PRL was 2-10 times more active than ovine PRL, and the effects in the ayu were also parabolic. An increase in plasma sodium also occurred when the PRLs were injected into the seawater-adapted eel, Anguilla japonica; the chum and ovine PRLs were equipotent, and hypercalcemia was also observed. In contrast, both chum and ovine PRLs were without effect on plasma sodium levels of chum salmon fry, either when injected into seawater-adapted fish kept in seawater or into fish subsequently transferred to fresh water. The absence of an effect of PRLs in chum salmon fry seems to be due, at least in part, to their good osmoregulatory ability during the period of seaward migration; effects of the exogenously administered PRLs may be compensated for by other hormones responsible for their hydromineral balance.