Fingerling and yearling rock bream were divided into
2 groups of 50 fish in 50 l aquaria and 2 groups of 25 fish
in 400 l aquaria, respectively. Water temperature of one
tank in each age group was elevated from 18 to 26°C by
increment of 2°C per day. The fish in the other tanks
were kept at 18°C throughout the experiment. Fish that
died during the experiment were deep-frozen at −70°C
until PCR analysis. At 21d post-temperature elevation,
fish were sampled randomly (10 fingerling and 5
yearling) from each tank, and were analyzed the presence
of RSIV DNA in the spleen by primary PCR using PF
and PR primers as described above.