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Full-Text Articles in Zoology

First Report Of A Population Of Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys Obtusus) In The Brushy Creek System Of The Black Warrior River Drainage, Alabama, Eric Bauer, Malorie M. Hayes Sep 2017

First Report Of A Population Of Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys Obtusus) In The Brushy Creek System Of The Black Warrior River Drainage, Alabama, Eric Bauer, Malorie M. Hayes

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

Alabama is home to the southernmost populations of Rhinichthys obtusus, the Western Blacknose Dace. Within Alabama, R. obtusus is found in the Tennessee, Coosa, and Black Warrior River basins, but its presence in the Black Warrior River drainage has been limited. Until now, R. obtusus in the Black Warrior drainage has only been reported as collections of 1 to 4 specimens at a time in the Sipsey Fork drainage. Herein, we report two novel occurrences of R. obtusus in the headwaters of the Brushy Creek system in the Black Warrior River drainage including a singleton and a large population. …


Effects Of Wave Action On The Structure Of Fish Assemblages Across An Exposure Gradient, Lauren Liddon Aug 2017

Effects Of Wave Action On The Structure Of Fish Assemblages Across An Exposure Gradient, Lauren Liddon

Master's Theses

Disturbance affects the function and diversity of ecosystems. Increased wave exposure to salt marsh can disturb sediments and cause a loss of habitat. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of increased wave exposure on diversity, abundance, and functional ecology of estuarine fishes. If increased wave exposure is acting as a disturbance to these habitats, ecological theory (Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis) predicts that diversity will peak at intermediate frequencies and intensities of disturbance. Fish were sampled from 10 sites monthly for 6 years. The sites were assigned to different exposure categories (Open, Intermediate, and Sheltered) using an exposure …


Examining Movement And Habitat Selection Of Everglades Fishes In Response To Seasonal Water Levels, Gregory J. Hill Mar 2017

Examining Movement And Habitat Selection Of Everglades Fishes In Response To Seasonal Water Levels, Gregory J. Hill

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fish distribution patterns and seasonal habitat use play a key role in the food web dynamics of aquatic ecosystems, including the Florida Everglades. In this study I examined the fine scale habitat shifts and movements of spotted sunfish, Lepomis punctatus across varying seasons and hydrologic conditions using in-situ field enclosures and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) systems. Data on fish use of three dominant Everglades marsh habitats and activity level were recorded continuously from January to August, 2015. Fish were more active and had the highest use of higher elevation habitats when water levels rose during an experimental reversal in mid-April. …


Animal Models, Agendas And Sentience, Thomas Creson Jan 2017

Animal Models, Agendas And Sentience, Thomas Creson

Animal Sentience

Woodruff’s target article on teleost consciousness is a well-organized logical argument for considering the fish as a sentient being. This becomes more important for animal ethical discussion as the fish becomes a more important and legitimate animal model for investigating animal states and traits associated with higher levels of behavior such as learning and memory.


The Emotional Brain Of Fish, Sonia Rey Planellas Jan 2017

The Emotional Brain Of Fish, Sonia Rey Planellas

Animal Sentience

Woodruff (2017) analyzes structural homologies and functional equivalences between the brains of mammals and fish to understand where sentience and social cognition might reside in teleosts. He compares neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and behavioural correlates. I discuss current advances in the study of fish cognitive abilities and emotions, and advocate an evolutionary approach to the underlying basis of sentience in teleosts.


Sensitizing Humans To Fish Sentience, Kelly Levenda Jan 2017

Sensitizing Humans To Fish Sentience, Kelly Levenda

Animal Sentience

Although fish can feel pain and suffer, they are not often protected legally. Jonathan Balcombe’s What a Fish Knows provides a timely and important contribution to the literature on animal cognition and sentience. By explaining their personalities and capabilities, Balcombe brings much needed public attention to fish and advances the principle that they need and deserve protection.


Fish Sentience: A Hypothesis Worth Pursuing, José E. Burgos Jan 2017

Fish Sentience: A Hypothesis Worth Pursuing, José E. Burgos

Animal Sentience

Woodruff’s case for fish sentience is intriguing. Though far from ready for final acceptance, it is worth pursuing. The case is philosophically uncontroversial under functionalism and reductive materialism. It is also highly heuristic, as it raises interesting issues for further investigation, such as the neural causation of behavior, the role of Mauthner cells in conditioned avoidance, and whether operant conditioning is constitutive of fish sentience.


Learning, Memory, Cognition, And The Question Of Sentience In Fish, Robert Gerlai Jan 2017

Learning, Memory, Cognition, And The Question Of Sentience In Fish, Robert Gerlai

Animal Sentience

Evolutionarily conserved features have been demonstrated at many levels of biological organization across a variety of species. Evolutionary conservation may apply to complex behavioral phenomena too. It is thus not inconceivable that a form of sentience does exist even in the lowest order vertebrate taxon, the teleosts. How similar it is to human sentience in its level of complexity or in its multidimensional features is a difficult question, especially from an experimental standpoint, given that even the definition of human sentience is debated. Woodruff attempts a Turing-like test of fish sentience, and lists numerous neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and behavioral similarities between …