Dynamics of scale regeneration in seawater - and brackish water-acclimated sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax

Scale loss is a common occurrence in both wild fish and those in aquaculture production systems, and regeneration of scales has been described in several freshwater species. Relatively little information exists about this process in marine fish, and in the present study, the chronology of scale regeneration was characterized in juvenile sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, maintained in full seawater (SW; 36 %, 11.2 mM Ca2?) or brackish water (BW; 3.5 %, 1.1 mM Ca2?). Despite the significant differences in plasma osmolality, plasma calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) were similar between SW and BW.The authors thank Elisabete Caldas for technical assistance and Mr. Joa˜o Reis and Ms. Adriana Silva for care of animals. Fish provided by Viveiros Vilanova, S.A., V.N. Milfontes, Portugal. Funded by Fundac¸a˜o para a Cieˆncia e a Tecnologia, project No POCI/CVT/61052/2004 to DMP. PMG was in receipt of FCT grant SFRH/BPD/9464/2002