Recovery of Male Siamese Fighting Fish (<i>Betta splendens</i>) After Overland Shipping
2025
Karun Thongprajukaew | Saowalak Malawa | Sukanya Poolthajit | Nutt Nuntapong | Waraporn Hahor
Ornamental fish shipped by road or rail may spend days in transit without food, leading to a reduction in somatic growth after transportation and during acclimatization. In the present study, a time-series (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 days) experiment was conducted to investigate the growth recovery of male Siamese fighting fish (<i>Betta splendens</i>, 1.56 ± 0.02 g body weight, <i>n</i> = 15 per group) transported by road for two days. Biometric changes, nesting activity, skin pigmentation, digestive enzyme activity, muscle quality, and whole-body composition, were compared across all fish groups. The recovery in growth, as indicated by final body weight, increased with post-transportation time (<i>p</i> < 0.05), causing a significant reversal of weight loss with a proportionally stable condition factor from day 8 until the end of observation (<i>p</i> > 0.05). During this time period, the fish exhibited similar bubble-nest building activity to the control group that was not transported (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Color parameters, digestive enzyme activities, muscle quality, and whole-body composition of fish 8 days after shipping were comparable to the control fish group (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Our findings indicate that an 8-day recovery time is an appropriate protocol for Siamese fighting fish acclimatization following overland shipping.
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