Acknowledgements
The authors thank PreVet Aquatic Health and Nutreco-FriRibe for support in the field samplings, Geneseas
Fish Farm for providing fish for the seasonality study,Pedro Henrique de Oliveira Viadanna, M.Sc. (CAUNESP),for histopathological analysis, the AQUABRASIL project– Technological Bases for Sustainable Development ofAquaculture – EMBRAPA, the Ministry of Fisheries andAquaculture, CNPq for a Grant 302493/2010-7 awarded toM.L. Martins and BioMed Proofreading for English editing.