Actions for restocking of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus): a case study on the relevance of behaviour and welfare assessment of cultured juveniles

Carere, Claudio; Nascetti, Giuseppe; Carlini, Alessandro; Santucci, Daniela; Alleva, Enrico

doi:10.1007/s12210-014-0361-6

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In wild or semiwild elephant populations, personality can inform management and conservation decisions, such as identification of candidates for translocation and for pairing mahouts and elephants based on personality types (Seltmann et al, 2018). This work can also be applied with captive elephants across Asia to assess which individuals would be successful candidates to be released into the wild, as has been done with captive-bred swift foxes (Bremner-Harrison et al, 2004) and lobsters (Carere et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple assessments of personality and problem-solving performance in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana).

Barrett¹,

Benson‐Amram

2021

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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Animal personality has been shown to predict many behavioral responses across taxa, but the relationship between personality and performance on cognitive tasks remains unclear. To address this gap, we investigated whether personality predicted problem-solving performance and learning in captive Asian and African savanna elephants. We leveraged 3 novel problem-solving tasks to assess success rate, latency to touch the apparatus, exploratory diversity (the number of different behaviors exhibited toward the task), work time (the proportion of time working on the tasks), and latency to solve. To measure multiple different personality traits, such as boldness, activity, aggressiveness, curiosity, and sociability, across contexts, we carried out novel object presentations, behavioral coding through observations, and trait rating through surveys with zookeepers. We found evidence of personality through behavioral observations and surveys, but not through novel object testing. Aggressiveness and activity were important predictors of problem solving, but this was task-dependent, and the traits we measured did not significantly predict learning. Elephants solved 2 out of 3 tasks faster over time, but they did not vary their latency to touch, exploratory diversity, or work time. We discuss our results in terms of task difficulty and previous work on personality in elephants. Results from this study lay the foundation for future work connecting individual variation in personality to cognitive performance in elephants. In addition, for zoo-housed animals, individual differences research could inform enrichment and welfare decisions as well as conservation strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple assessments of personality and problem-solving performance in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana).

Barrett¹,

Benson‐Amram

2021

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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“…As naïve juveniles displayed similar digging and shelter exploration as exposed juveniles, this behaviour seems to have strong innate components [38]. In contrast, Carere et al [39] found that European lobsters reared with shelter had higher sheltering scores than those reared in non-enriched conditions. The reason for difference is not completely clear, but in contrast to Carere et al who exposed lobsters to similar shelters during the enrichment and the subsequent tests, the shelters in our behaviour studies differed from those in the exposure environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Enriched Environment Promotes Shelter-Seeking Behaviour and Survival of Hatchery-Produced Juvenile European Lobster (Homarus gammarus)

et al. 2016

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The high loss of newly released hatchery-reared European lobster (Homarus gammarus) juveniles for stock enhancement is believed to be the result of maladaptive anti-predator behaviour connected to deprived stimuli in the hatchery environment. Our objective was to learn if an enriched hatchery environment enhances shelter-seeking behaviour and survival. In the “naïve” treatment, the juveniles were raised in single compartments without substrate and shelter whereas juveniles in the “exposed” treatment experienced substrate, shelter and interactions with conspecifics. Three experiments with increasing complexity were conducted. Few differences in shelter-seeking behaviour were found between treatments when one naïve or one exposed juvenile were observed alone. When observing interactions between one naïve and one exposed juvenile competing for shelter, naïve juveniles more often initiated the first aggressive encounter. The third experiment was set up to simulate a release for stock enhancement. Naïve and exposed juveniles were introduced to a semi-natural environment including substrate, a limited number of shelters and interactions with conspecifics. Shelter occupancy was recorded three times during a period of 35 days. Exposed juveniles occupied more shelters, grew larger and had higher survival compared with naïve juveniles. Our results demonstrate that experience of environmental complexity and social interactions increase shelter-seeking ability and survival in hatchery reared lobster juveniles.

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“…Improved sheltering behavior is another expected effect of physical enrichment. Higher sheltering tendency may be adaptive soon after release in the presence of natural predators and has been shown to increase after exposure to structurallyenriched rearing environments in both fish (Salvanes and Braithwaite 2005, Roberts et al 2011, Näslund et al 2013, Zhang et al 2019) and crustaceans (van der Meeren 2001, Carere et al 2015, but there are indications that effects depend on ontogenetic stage (at least in fish; Rosengren et al 2017, Zhang et al 2019. In European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) shelter experience improves the ability to compete for shelters (at least when combined with social rearing), which also translates to higher survival in predator-free mesocosms (Aspaas et al 2016, Agnalt et al 2017.…”

Section: Social Transfermentioning

confidence: 99%

Reared to become wild-like: addressing behavioral and cognitive deficits in cultured aquatic animals destined for stocking into natural environments—a critical review

Näslund

2021

bms

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Hatchery-reared aquatic animals tend to perform worse in natural environments than wild conspecifics. This was pointed out over a century ago and while there are many possible causes, one persistent observation is that unnatural rearing environments cause behavioral expressions unsuitable for a life in the wild. Behavioral traits being adaptive in barren, food-rich, and predator-free hatchery tanks likely differ from those being adaptive in nature. More recently, suspicions of cognitive deficiencies due to sensory deprivation have also been raised. Over the last few decades, substantial research has been devoted to produce more wild-like phenotypes in animals reared for stocking. This research includes life-skills training programs, where animals learn to cope with important features of the natural environment (e.g., live food and predation risk), and environmental modifications aimed at stimulating the formation of adequate cognitive and behavioral traits (e.g., environmental enrichment and reduction of the number of individuals per tank). The main purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the current state-of-knowledge of interventions aimed at ameliorating cognitive and behavioral deficiencies in aquatic animals reared for stocking. Furthermore, it aims to provide a foundation to assist in the development of future questions, hypotheses, and experiments to eventually improve the postrelease performance of these animals.

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Actions for restocking of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus): a case study on the relevance of behaviour and welfare assessment of cultured juveniles

Cited by 11 publications

References 25 publications

Multiple assessments of personality and problem-solving performance in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana).

Multiple assessments of personality and problem-solving performance in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana).

An Enriched Environment Promotes Shelter-Seeking Behaviour and Survival of Hatchery-Produced Juvenile European Lobster (Homarus gammarus)

Reared to become wild-like: addressing behavioral and cognitive deficits in cultured aquatic animals destined for stocking into natural environments—a critical review

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