Fish perform behavi oral fever when infected by pathogenic bacteria. Behavioral fever is a phenomenon in which body temperature is regulated by an elevated brain set-point , thus raising the preferred temperature of the animal. The mechanisms of how the set-point is regulated in fish has been little studied. In this study, tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus were treated, under differing experimental conditions, with Aeromonas hydrophila, bacteria pathogenic to bony fish, and with indomethacin, a high lypotent inhibitor of prostagland in synthesis. Results show that indomethacin decreased the survival of A. hydrophila-treated O. mossambicus, under febrile temperatures (35°C) . Indomethacin- and A. hydrophila-treated O. mossambicus had higher survival rates at normal tempe ratures than at febri le temperature conditions. These results demonstrate that infection by A. hydrophila can elevate the behaviorally preferred temperature of O. mossambicus. This process is mediated by prostaglandin.
Prostaglandin, Behavioral fever, Fish
