Fish are capable of excellent vision and can be profoundly influenced by the visual properties of their environment. Ambient colours have been found to affect growth, survival, aggression and reproduction, but the effect of background...
Comparative studies on neural plasticity in non-mammalian vertebrates are increasingly promoted as an important complement to mammalian models. In teleost fishes the number of brain cells increases with age, body weight, and body length throughout...
Large-scale aquaculture facilities require highly optimized husbandry protocols that maximize fecundity and embryo health while minimizing cost and effort. Although zebrafish are being increasingly used for preclinical drug screens, functional genomic research and toxicological and...
Information about the welfare and husbandry of pet and laboratory fish is scarce although millions of fish are sold in pet shops and used in laboratory research every year. Inadequate housing conditions can cause behavioural...
Many species of fishes are aggressive when placed in small aquaria. Aggression can negatively affect the welfare of those individuals toward whom it is directed. Animals may behave aggressively in order to defend resources such...
Enrichment of the environment for captive animals is aimed at producing beneficial effects on the behaviour and physiology of relevant species, and is commonly used to reduce harmful social behaviours and stereotypies. However, little work...
Zebrafish are a widely utilised animal model in developmental genetics, and owing to recent advances in our understanding of zebrafish behaviour, their utility as a comparative model in behavioural neuroscience is beginning to be realised...
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a small tropical minnow that is playing an increasingly big role in the world of scientific research. In the last year alone, researchers working with this diminutive fish from south...
This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...
Physiological and psychological effects of listening to music have been documented in humans. The changes in physiology, cognition and brain chemistry and morphology induced by music have been studied in animal models, providing evidence that...