The Diverse World of Fishes

Fernö, Anders; Bjelland, Otte; Kristiansen, Tore

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41675-1_3

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 155 publications

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“…Increasing the diversity of model organisms can be a boon for research (Alfred & Baldwin, 2015) and fishes, as the most numerous group of vertebrates, are of interest to many researchers. Fishes encompass a range of important ecological roles and specific niches with exceptionally diverse communities, for example in coral reef fishes (Stuart‐Smith et al ., 2013) and rift lake cichlids (Muschick et al ., 2012), and represent a considerable diversity of morphology, behaviour and reproductive biology (Fernö et al ., 2020; Helfman et al ., 2009; Wootton & Smith, 2014). In addition to research opportunities, a large variety of species of fish is also kept in captivity for aquaculture and ornamental pets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical enrichment research for captive fish: Time to focus on the DETAILS

Jones

Webster

Salvanes

2021

Journal of Fish Biology

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Growing research effort has shown that physical enrichment (PE) can improve fish welfare and research validity. However, the inclusion of PE does not always result in positive effects and conflicting findings have highlighted the many nuances involved. Effects are known to depend on species and life stage tested, but effects may also vary with differences in the specific items used as enrichment between and within studies. Reporting fine‐scale characteristics of items used as enrichment in studies may help to reveal these factors. We conducted a survey of PE‐focused studies published in the last 5 years to examine the current state of methodological reporting. The survey results suggest that some aspects of enrichment are not adequately detailed. For example, the amount and dimensions of objects used as enrichment were frequently omitted. Similarly, the ecological relevance, or other justification, for enrichment items was frequently not made explicit. Focusing on ecologically relevant aspects of PE and increasing the level of detail reported in studies may benefit future work and we propose a framework with the acronym DETAILS (Dimensions, Ecological rationale, Timing of enrichment, Amount, Inputs, Lighting and Social environment). We outline the potential importance of each of the elements of this framework with the hope it may aid in the level of reporting and standardization across studies, ultimately aiding the search for more beneficial types of PE and the development of our understanding and ability to improve the welfare of captive fish and promote more biologically relevant behaviour.

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