Individuality really matters for fish welfare
Animal welfare science started to gain ground in the 1960s (Duncan 2006), especially after the publication of the famous book Animal Machines in 1964 by Ruth Harrison. this book exposed several farm practices that were causing suffering for terrestrial farmed animals, which later basically culminated in the official publication of the famous five freedoms in […]
Fish Welfare in Public Aquariums and Zoological Collections
A wide variety of fish species have been displayed in public aquariums and zoological collections for over 150 years. Though the issue of pain perception in fish is still being debated, there is no disagreement that negative impacts on their welfare can significantly affect their health and wellbeing. A general description of the basic biological […]
The importance of enrichment for advancing amphibian welfare and conservation goals
Enrichment, broadly the provision of stimuli to improve the welfare of captive animals, is known to be important in husbandry practice and in the success of ex situ conservation and reintroduction programs. Practical evidence of the importance of enrichment exists for a number of taxa, yet amphibians are poorly represented. There is no reason to […]
Natural Habitat Design for Zoo-Housed Elasmobranch and Teleost Fish Species Improves Behavioural Repertoire and Space Use in a Visitor Facing Exhibit
This study investigated the behaviour of two Elasmobranch species; Southern fiddler ray (Trygonorrhina dumerilii, n = 1) and Port Jackson shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni, n = 4) and two teleost species; moonlighter (Tilodon sexfasciatus, n = 1) and banded morwong (Cheilodactylus spectabilis, n = 1) living within a single enclosure. For this study, two treatments were […]
Computer vision based individual fish identification using skin dot pattern
Precision fish farming is an emerging concept in aquaculture research and industry, which combines new technologies and data processing methods to enable data-based decision making in fish farming. The concept is based on the automated monitoring of fish, infrastructure, and the environment ideally by contactless methods. The identification of individual fish of the same species […]
Fish Behavior: Training and Enrichment
Designed as a practical resource, Clinical Guide to Fish Medicine provides an evidence-based approach to the veterinary care of fish. This guide—written and edited by experts in the field—contains essential information on husbandry, diagnostics, and case management of bony and cartilaginous fish. This important resource: Provides clinically relevant information on topics such as anatomy, water quality, […]
Influence of early rearing environment on water-borne cortisol and expression of stress-related genes in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
Nowadays, lower post-release survivorship of hatchery-reared fish in natural aquatic bodies has attained great attention and research is in progress to determine the reasons for their higher mortality. It is assumed that hatchery rearing environments negatively affect the physiological stress response of the fish. Thus, understanding how rearing environments modulate this is important for the […]
Effects of different levels of environmental enrichment on the sheltering behaviors, brain development and cortisol levels of black rockfish Sebastes schlegelii
Environmental enrichment is a promising way to increase the fitness and survival of fish released for stock enhancement and biological conservation programs. However, the effects of enrichment in different studies on the fish behavior, physiology and neural development were considerably different. The present study aimed to investigate whether enrichment levels had significant effects on the […]
Perception of the ethical acceptability of live prey feeding to aquatic species kept in captivity
Previous research into public perceptions of live prey feeding has been focused on terrestrial animals. The reasons for this likely relate to the difficulty humans have in being compassionate to animals who are phylogenetically distantly related. In order to test these assumptions, the general public (two groups; one who had just visited an aquarium; and […]
Ethics and Care: For Animals, Not Just Mammals
In the last few decades, we have made great strides in recognizing ethics and providing care for animals, but the focus has been mainly on mammals. This stems from a bias of attention not only in research but predominantly in non-scientists’ attention (to ‘popular’ animals), resulting partly from discussion about and depiction of animals in […]