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Aeromonas hydrophila is causing substantial economic losses in world aquaculture. This study determined the tolerance limit (LD50-96h) of A. hydrophila in Arapaima gigas, and also investigated the clinical signs after intradermal inoculation. Arapaima gigas fingerlings were inoculated intraperitoneally with 0 (control), 1.0×10(5), 1.0×10(6), 1.0×10(7), 1.0×10(9) and 1.0×10(10)CFU/mL of A. hydrophila for the determination of LD50-96h, which was 1.8×10(8)CFU/mL. In another trial with intradermal inoculation of 1.8×10(8)CFU/mL A. hydrophila, there was a 91.6% of mortality between 8 and 23h, and several clinical signs were found. As follows: depigmentation in the tegument, lesions in the tail and fins, loss of balance, reduction of respiratory movements, hemorrhagic foci, necrotic hemorrhages in the kidney, liver and swim bladder, splenomegaly, ascites in the abdominal cavity and hyperemia, enlargement of the gall bladder, among other clinical signs observed. The results showed that A. gigas has a relative tolerance to A. hydrophila when compared to other Neotropical fish species.

The hematological and biochemical responses of pirarucu fingerlings (Arapaima gigas) fed with diets containing different concentrations of a glucomannan product derived from yeast and algae were evaluated in order to ascertain the effect of these diets on fish physiology. Four treatments were conducted, with three replications, with 12 fish in each tank. The product evaluated (MycosorbA+(r)) was incorporated into the commercial diet, at four concentrations: 0, 1, 2 and 4 g.kg-1, called M0%, M0.1%, M0.2% and M0.4%, respectively. After 45 days of feeding, blood samples from six fish in each replicate were collected to perform the analyses. Their weight and length were determined to calculate the condition factor and weight gain, but no differences (P > 0.05) were observed among the treatments. No changes to the hematocrit, hemoglobin or erythrocyte levels or to the hematimetric indices of the pirarucus were observed. The glucose and triglyceride levels of the pirarucus in the M0.1% and M0.2% groups were significantly lower than those of the M0% group. The M0.2% group showed higher albumin levels (P < 0.05) than M0% and M0.4%. The M0.4% group showed a total cholesterol level that was significantly higher than in all other treatments. MycosorbA+(r) contributed towards increasing the levels of defense cells in A. gigas. It would be possible to use this product at concentrations of between 0.1% and 0.2%, given that they increase the levels of some defense cells and plasma albumin concentrations, without changes to hematological parameters, cholesterol and triglyceride plasma levels or condition factor.

Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy technique combined with chemometrics methods were used to group and identify samples of different soy cultivars. Spectral data, collected in the range of 714 to 2500 nm (14000 to 4000 cm -1 ), were obtained from whole grains of four different soybean cultivars and were submitted to different types of pre-treatments. Chemometrics algorithms were applied to extract relevant information from the spectral data, to remove the anomalous samples and to group the samples. The best results were obtained considering the spectral range from 1900.6 to 2187.7 nm (5261.4 cm -1 to 4570.9 cm -1) and with spectral treatment using Multiplicative Signal Correction (MSC) + Baseline Correct (linear fit), what made it possible to the exploratory techniques Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to separate the cultivars. Thus, the results demonstrate that NIR spectroscopy allied with de chemometrics techniques can provide a rapid, nondestructive and reliable method to distinguish different cultivars of soybeans.

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