Sampling was scheduled after 30 days of probiotic
treatment. A total of eight fish were taken from each
treatment for blood samples after a 24 h starvation
period. Blood was drawn from the caudal vein of
individual fish after anesthetizing as described before.
The plasma and serum samples were separated using
standard procedures and stored at 80 8C prior to
analysis. The plasma samples were used for total
immunoglobulin analysis and the serum samples for
determining lysozyme and alternative complement
activity.