It has nothing to do with creating a THICK slime coat. Low levels of salt stimulate
the slime coat and it "turns over", it doesnt thicken the slime coat. Really high
levels strip the slime coat.

The antibody produced by fish is secretory IgM, NOT IgA.

" Detection of specific antibodies in the serum of animals is recognized as a useful
indicator of previous exposure to pathogens.
* ADL produces probes (AquaMab-F) to enable the detection of IgM by ELISA in a
range of fish species used in aquaculture. This is extremely useful for broodstock
health testing. It also provides tools for monitoring the immune response in fish
following vaccination and therefore will assist in the development of vaccines in the
future as the more fish species are cultured and new diseases emerge."
http://www.aquaticdiagnostics.com/detection2.htm
"Although infection with Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is often lethal, some fish
recover and develop resistance to subsequent infection. Under laboratory conditions
fish can be routinely immunized by exposure to controlled numbers of parasites. The
existence of acquired immunity against Ich provides the opportunity for the
development of protective vaccines. In addition, studies of the protective immune
response against Ich provide a useful model for the elucidation of the mechanisms by
which fish respond to pathogens which infect through epithelial surfaces.
Serum and mucus antibodies from immune fish immobilize free-swimming theronts
in vitro , suggesting several potential antibody-mediated mechanisms of protection.
For instance, antibodies in mucus could block penetration of theronts into the
epithelium of the skin and gills. Because immobilization can be readily observed in
the laboratory and fits a number of different models of potential mechanisms of
immunity, considerable effort in this laboratory has been dedicated to identifying
the target antigens responsible for this phenomenon, with the ultimate goal of
developing a subunit vaccine."
http://www.vet.uga.edu/mmb/dickerson/research.html
IgM is the most primitive type of antibody. But fish also have been found to produce
anti-micriobial proteins, http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/cbs/noga_ed.htm
Ingrid

"Gregory Young" wrote:
There is no advantage whatsoever to use salt to have "thicker slime
coats" as some have stated. The thickness of the slime layer is NOT
reflective of the health of the fish!
in response to irritants
The antibodies contained in the slime coat (IgA) have not been shown to
correlate with immunity to disease, nor with recovery from disease.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
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