The effectiveness of the addition of a potentially stress reducing probiotic during transportation of tambaqui juveniles was studied. Fish were transported with (20mg/L) and without probiotic in the water. The transport duration was 16 hours. After transportation, fish were placed in 150L tanks to monitor their recovery for 96-hours. The following stress parameters were evaluated: glucose, hematocrit, and hemoglobin, and also some water quality parameters. The responses of glucose presented similar pattern between the treatments. Glucose concentrations significantly increased after transportation, kept high for 24 and 48-hours after transportation, and returned to control-like concentration at 96-hours after transportation. Hemoglobin did not present significant difference during or after transportation. Hematocrit significantly increased in probiotic-free treatment at 24 and 48 hours after transportation. The stress response in tambaqui was similar between the tested treatments, indicating that the used probiotic was not efficient in suppressing the stress during transportation; however, it was able to mitigate post-transportation stress response.
tambaqui; transportation; physiological stress
