1River Environment Team, Water Resources and Environmental Research Center, K-water Institute, Korea Water Resources Corporation462-1, Chonmin-dong, Yusong-ku, Daejon, 305–730, Korea.
2Department of Aquaculture and Aquatic Science, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 573–701, Korea.
* Corresponding author: Tel: +82-42-870-7487, +82-10-8947-6844; Fax: +82-42-870-7419; E-mail: fishhur@kwater.or.kr.
The effects of chronic vibration stress 61.6±16.6 dB V for 30 min at 2h intervals, 08.00–18.00h on the histology and physiology of liver, kidney and testes of the soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis was examined. P. sinensis exhibited typical physiological responses (increased cortisol and glucose levels) to vibration stress. In the SG, hepatocytes, kidney and testes showed abnormal tissue morphology compared to the NSG. In the SG, gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices (GSI and HSI) showed significant differences relative to before the start of the experiment and to the NSG. These results suggest that chronic vibration caused substantial stress in the animals and P. sinensis could not adapt to chronic stimuli provoked by vibration stress.
Soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, vibration stress
