Physiological Abnormality and the Tissue Vitamin K Level of Mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus Fed with a Vitamin K Free Diet

Abstract

Mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus Linnaeus were reared during the spawning season with a vitamin K free diet for 11 weeks. Most of the male fish died during the experiment, while female fish seldom died. The menaquinone-4 (MK-4) content in the tissues markedly decreased during the experimental feeding. In contrast, none of the male or female fish (control fish) which were fed a diet supplemented with menadione sodium bisulfite (MSB) died. After 11 weeks, MK-4 was found to have accumulated in various tissues of the control fish, especially in the gonadal tissue, except for the liver tissue. In the kidney tissue of the female fish fed a vitamin K free diet, a large number of immature erythrocytes were observed. This suggests that the female fish had been affected by hematoporia and/or hematopoiesis brought about by a deficiency in vitamin K. However, larval mortality was not affected by the vitamin K deficiency. These results suggest that vitamin K intake is necessary for mummichog, particularly for the male fish during the spawning season even though they can continue to grow without any vitamin K supplement.