Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Fish Pain: Would It Change Current Best Practice In The Real World?, B. K. Diggles

Animal Sentience

Much of the “fish pain debate” relates to how high the bar for pain should be set. The close phylogenetic affinities of teleosts with cartilaginous fishes which appear to lack nociceptors suggests caution should be applied by those who seek to lower the bar, especially given the equivocal and conflicting nature of the experimental data currently available for teleosts. Nevertheless, even if we assume fish “feel pain,” it is difficult to see how current best practice in aquaculture would change. This is because of the need to avoid stress at all stages of the rearing process to optimize health, growth …

Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain, Brian Key

Animal Sentience

Only humans can report feeling pain. In contrast, pain in animals is typically inferred on the basis of nonverbal behaviour. Unfortunately, these behavioural data can be problematic when the reliability and validity of the behavioural tests are questionable. The thesis proposed here is based on the bioengineering principle that structure determines function. Basic functional homologies can be mapped to structural homologies across a broad spectrum of vertebrate species. For example, olfaction depends on olfactory glomeruli in the olfactory bulbs of the forebrain, visual orientation responses depend on the laminated optic tectum in the midbrain, and locomotion depends on pattern generators …

What Would The Babel Fish Say?, Monica Gagliano

Animal Sentience

Starting with its title, Key’s (2016) target article advocates the view that fish do not feel pain. The author describes the neuroanatomical, physiological and behavioural conditions involved in the experience of pain in humans and rodents and confidently applies analogical arguments as though they were established facts in support of the negative conclusion about the inability of fish to feel pain. The logical reasoning, unfortunately, becomes somewhat incoherent, with the arbitrary application of the designated human criteria for an analogical argument to one animal species (e.g., rodents) but not another (fish). Research findings are reported selectively, and questionable interpretations are …

Pain In Fish: Weighing The Evidence, James D. Rose

Animal Sentience

The target article by Key (2016) examines whether fish have brain structures capable of mediating pain perception and consciousness, functions known to depend on the neocortex in humans. He concludes, as others have concluded (Rose 2002, 2007; Rose et al. 2014), that such functions are impossible for fish brains. This conclusion has been met with hypothetical assertions by others to the effect that functions of pain and consciousness may well be possible through unknown alternate neural processes. Key's argument would be bolstered by consideration of other neurological as well as behavioral evidence, which shows that sharks and ray are fishes …

Pain-Capable Neural Substrates May Be Widely Available In The Animal Kingdom, Edgar T. Walters

Animal Sentience

Neural and behavioral evidence from diverse species indicates that some forms of pain may be generated by coordinated activity in networks far smaller than the cortical pain matrix in mammals. Studies on responses to injury in squid suggest that simplification of the circuitry necessary for conscious pain might be achieved by restricting awareness to very limited information about a noxious event, possibly only to the fact that injury has occurred, ignoring information that is much less important for survival, such as the location of the injury. Some of the neural properties proposed to be critical for conscious pain in mammals …

Fish Pain: An Inconvenient Truth, Culum Brown

Animal Sentience

Whether fish feel pain is a hot political topic. The consequences of our denial are huge given the billions of fish that are slaughtered annually for human consumption. The economic costs of changing our commercial fishery harvest practices are also likely to be great. Key outlines a structure-function analogy of pain in humans, tries to force that template on the rest of the vertebrate kingdom, and fails. His target article has so far elicited 34 commentaries from scientific experts from a broad range of disciplines; only three of these support his position. The broad consensus from the scientific community is …

Fish Pain: A Painful Topic, Carl Safina

Animal Sentience

If fish cannot feel pain, why do stingrays have purely defensive tail spines that deliver venom? Stingrays’ ancestral predators are fish. And why do many fishes possess defensive fin spines, some also with venom that produces pain in humans? These things did not evolve just in case sentient humans would evolve millions of years later and then invent scuba. If fish react purely unconsciously to “noxious” stimuli, why aren’t sharp jabbing spines enough? Why also stinging venom?

Brain Processes For “Good” And “Bad” Feelings: How Far Back In Evolution?, Jaak Panksepp

Animal Sentience

The question of whether fish can experience pain or any other feelings can only be resolved by neurobiologically targeted experiments. This commentary summarizes why this is essential for resolving scientific debates about consciousness in other animals, and offers specific experiments that need to be done: (i) those that evaluate the rewarding and punishing effects of specific brain regions and systems (for instance, with deep-brain stimulation); (ii) those that evaluate the capacity of animals to regulate their affective states; and (iii) those that have direct implications for human affective feelings, with specific predictions — for instance, the development of new treatments …

Hydrology-Biology Response Relationships In The Ozark Highlands, Dustin Thomas Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined flow-ecology relationships among stream communities in the Ozark Highlands, USA. I sampled fish, crayfish, and benthic macroinvertebrates during two consecutive summers, including a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). Biological response variables related to community structure were assessed via two different statistical methods: an Information Theoretic approach relating response variables to a priori selected predictor variables incorporating hydrology, habitat, geomorphology, and water quality, and canonical ordination using forward selection to relate these same response variables to a large assortment of hydrologic metrics. In addition to assessing metrics related to predicted natural flow, flow alteration at gaged …

Population Structure Of Central Stoneroller (Campostoma Anomalum) On The Ozark Plateau In Arkansas And Missouri, Mallory Jane Jeffers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stream fishes on the Ozark Plateau have been influenced both by historic events (i.e. vicariance versus dispersal) and ecological forces (i.e. flow regime). To examine the role of these processes, genetic structure of Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum), an ecologically important omnivorous minnow with a broad distribution and elevated abundance, was evaluated across populations in the White River drainage of the Ozark Plateau in Arkansas and Missouri. Fin clips of five to eight individuals were taken at each of 20 sites (N=138 individuals; average=6.9), selected so as to represent two different flow regimes: intermittently flashy (N=10 sites; N=73 individuals; average=7.3/ site) …

Parasite Infection Mediates Trait Tradeoffs In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Sarah Dunn

Honors College Theses

To be successful, an animal must eat, grow, and reproduce. With limited resources, there are tradeoffs between these critical life history parameters but the direction of the tradeoffs is largely unknown in a changing environment. To determine whether environmental context affects life-history tradeoffs, I surveyed and quantified investment into reproduction, growth, and a proxy for immunity (parasitism), in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, a common inhabitant of salt marshes in Georgia. Three salt marsh sites along coastal Georgia (Shellman Bluff, Skidaway Island, and Tybee Island) were selected using a proxy for anthropogenic disturbance (impervious surface), which also fell along a …

Life-History Aspects Of Moxostoma Cervinum (Blacktip Jumprock) In The Roanoke River, Virginia, Dezarai A. Thompson, John S. Bentley, Steven L. Powers

Virginia Journal of Science

Life-history aspects of Moxostoma cervinum(Blacktip Jumprock) were identified using specimens from recent collections and the Roanoke College Ichthyological Collection. The largest specimen examined was a female 161.27 mm SL and 66 months of age. Spawning appears to occur in May, with a mean of 2477.6 oocytes (SD = 2825.3) up to 1.54 mm diameter in gravid females. Sexual maturity appears to occur by 1-2 years of age in males and 2-3 years of age in females. Male to female ratio was not significantly different from 1:1. Chironomidae composed the bulk of the diet; while detritus, Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Acari …

Quantifying Florida Bay Habitat Suitability For Fishes And Invertebrates Under Climate Change Scenarios, Kelly A. Kearney, Mark J. Butler Iv, Robert Glazer, Christopner R. Kelble, Joseph E. Serafy, Erik Stabenau

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Florida Bay ecosystem supports a number of economically important ecosystem services, including several recreational fisheries, which may be affected by changing salinity and temperature due toclimate change. In this paper, we use a combination of physical models and habitat suitability index models to quantify the effects of potential climate change scenarios on a variety of juvenile fish and lobster species in Florida Bay. The climate scenarios include alterations in sea level, evaporation and precipitation rates, coastal runoff, and water temperature. We find that the changes in habitat suitability vary in both magnitude and direction across the scenarios and species, …

Tide-Dependent Predation Patterns Of Piscivorous Fishes In Shallow Estuarine Creeks, Matthew Ross Helms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The distribution and foraging behavior of predatory salt marsh fishes is shaped by the movements of prey, many of whom seek shelter in shallow and tributary creeks. I hypothesized that the distribution of piscivorous fishes in marsh creek channels would differ with proximity to the mouths of intertidal creeks and with tidal stage. Custom-built trotlines baited with live minnows were deployed during four discrete tidal stages at two microhabitats in main creek channels: (1) adjacent to intertidal creek mouths, and (2) along straight banks in North Inlet estuary, South Carolina. Catch-per-unit-effort of predatory fishes was significantly higher (Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, …

The Status Of Fishes In The Missouri River, Nebraska: Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Albus), Kirk D. Steffensen, Dane A. Shuman, Robert A. Klumb, Sam Stukel

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Anthropogenic alterations to the Missouri River have placed the Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) population in jeopardy and contributed to their listing as an endangered species. Pallid sturgeon were always less common than the sympatric Shovelnose Sturgeon (S. platorynchus); however, Pallid Sturgeon seemed to be more affected by river alterations as the river sturgeon ratio has become more skewed towards Shovelnose Sturgeon. Shortly after listing, population augmentation with hatchery produced Pallid Sturgeon began to supplement the diminishing wild population. Therefore, the objective of this study was to present the current population status of the Pallid Sturgeon in …

Mother Convict Cichlids Inflict More Bites Upon An Intruder In Hot Temperatures, Jesse L. Heckendorf

STAR Program Research Presentations

Convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) have developed to be extremely good parents by protecting their brood. Parental care leads to aggressive biting, chasing, and gill flaring to intimidate known predators. In this experiment, we show that environmental factors, such as the changing of temperature in this case, affect a female convict cichlid’s aggression toward caring for her offspring when an intruder is introduced. Females attack more in warmer water.

Factors In Long-Term Algal Composition Of Cayman Reefs: Determining Effects Of Natural Disturbance And Grazer Pressures, Patrick J. Doughty

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Abstract. Current research shows a worldwide shift in the population dynamics of reefs attributed to increasing human disturbance. With increasing nutrient additions, competitive populations of turf and macroalgae bloom and dominate coral reefs leading to decreased health of the reef as a whole. Unfortunately, few studies have been done showing the long-term changes in algae composition on reefs. In order to find the significant factors in the long-term composition of algae on reefs, algae and fish abundance data were collected through the Lawrence University Marine Program and analyzed for this study. Algae were split into three functional groups: encrusting, turf …

Coral-Fish Dynamics And Interactions: A Case Study Of Grand Cayman, Eileen Shea Davis

Lawrence University Honors Projects

To better understand the ecological interactions of coral reefs, it is important to understand the mechanisms that control the distribution and abundance of reef-building corals as well as the mechanisms that control the diversity and abundance of the fish community that inhabits these reef habitats. The purpose of this study was to identify specific coral-fish interactions among the reefs of Grand Cayman in order to gain insight into the biological effects of fish on the assemblage of hard corals. Using data collected by the Lawrence University Marine Program (LUMP), a number of exploratory statistical analyses were run in order to …

Using Indicators Of Biotic Integrity For Assessment Of Stream Condition, Stephanie A. Ogren

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Multiple indices of biotic integrity and biological condition gradient models have been developed and validated to assess ecological integrity in the Laurentian Great Lakes Region. With multiple groups such as Tribal, Federal, and State agencies as well as scientists and local watershed management or river-focused volunteer groups collecting data for bioassessment it is important that we determine the comparability of data and the effectiveness of indices applied to these data for assessment of natural systems. We evaluated the applicability of macroinvertebrate and fish community indices for assessing site integrity. Site quality (i.e., habitat condition) could be classified differently depending on …

Approaches To Improving Detection Of Invasive Fish Species In Western Lake Erie Through Analysis Of Monitoring Efficiencies And Metrics Of Community Distribution, Joshua Alan Southern

Wayne State University Theses

Efficient monitoring programs are essential for the early detection of invasive species. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) monitoring program encompassing 21 years of fish survey data from western Lake Erie was evaluated using Chao biodiversity analysis to determine the efficiency and precision of collection strategies of trawl and gillnet sampling, at detecting rare or non-native species. Overall, ODNR sampling annually accounted for ~80% of extant fish species, leaving gaps in coverage where rare and invasive species may be overlooked and proliferate.Obtaining 90% efficiency would require an estimated doubling of previous sampling effort. Computer simulations calculating different proportions of …

Some Aspects Of The Biology Of Monogenean (Platyhelminth) Parasites Of Marine And Freshwater Fishes, Graham C. Kearn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Müller was the first to describe a monogenean, collected from the skin of the halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus). However, he regarded the parasite as a leech and named it Hirudo hippoglossi. It was not until 1858 that its status as a monogenean was established by van Beneden and named Epibdella (now Entobdella) hippoglossi. Van Beneden published a detailed and accurate description of the parasite and one of his excellent illustrations is reproduced here. Entobdella hippoglossi is one of the largest monogeneans, measuring up to 2 cm in length. It has a smaller relative, measuring 5 to …

Habitat Restoration Of A Constructed Ohio River Embayment, Caleb Michael Rennaker

Open Access Theses

Backwater habitats of large rivers provide habitat for aquatic biota and influence important predator-prey interactions in fishes and other aquatic organisms. However, these areas often exhibit turbid conditions and lack habitat complexity. Restoration of lentic habitats through direct habitat manipulations has shown success in prior efforts, but these methods have not been tested in backwater habitats of large rivers. I attempted to create habitat in an Ohio River embayment by establishing founder colonies of aquatic macrophytes coupled with the placement of underwater gravel beds. I also evaluated the effects of total suspended solids (TSS) on overwintering structures of American Pondweed …

A Post-Restoration Assessment Of The Fishes And Macroinvertebrates Of Mill Branch, Knox County, Kentucky, With Emphasis On The Blackside Dace (Chrosomus Cumberlandensis), Dwayne Kevin Merrill

Online Theses and Dissertations

The first stream habitat restoration project for the federally threatened blackside dace, Chrosomus cumberlandensis (Starnes and Starnes), was initiated in fall 2005 on Mill Branch, a small headwater stream located in the Upper Cumberland River basin, Knox County, Kentucky. The lower 700 meters of Mill Branch were restored through construction of a new, stable channel with specially designed habitat features for blackside dace. In August 2009, the newly restored channel was connected to the mainstem and the old channel was eliminated. A post-restoration survey was conducted on the fishes (with emphasis on the blackside dace) and benthic macroinvertebrate communities, between …

Simulation Of Spatial Movement That Potentially Maximizes Assessment, Presence, And Defence In Territorial And Home-Ranging Animals, With Special Reference To Territorial Sex-Changing Fishes, Thomas R. Brown, Joshua Jowers, Marvin M.F. Lutnesky

Biology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Question: Are there territory sizes, shapes, and movement rules that animals can use to maximize their presence for territorial and reproductive purposes? Features of the model: Individual-oriented simulation model of a focal male, a female (his mate), and six other males in adjacent territories. Simulation variables were territory size and aspect (length-to-width ratio), velocity, step size, and potential movement angle. Each simulation represented 10,000 s of real time, and simulations were repeated until convergence on maximum mean encounter rates (MER) of a focal male with the female and other males was reached. Ranges of variables: Simulations consisted of three velocities …

Relatin Dissolved Oxygen Concentration To Fish Distribution In Jarecki Lake, Adam Sutton

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) profiles were measured once every month from mid July to mid February in a relatively deep sand-pit lake in southeast Nebraska. These profiles showed depleted DO concentrations below the thermocline during summer stratification indicating areas fish will likely avoid in summer months. Colder temperatures in fall caused complete mixing of the water column allowing fish to inhabit all depths of the lake. An inverse temperature stratification occurred directly below the ice during winter months as ice cover cooled the surface water to below 4 degrees Celsius. Ice cover also blocked air – water …

Environmental And Endogenous Factors Influencing Emigration In Juvenile Anadromous Alewives, Benjamin I. Gahagan, Eric T. Schultz, Katie E. Gherard

EEB Articles

We analyzed juvenile anadromous alewife migration at Bride Lake, a coastal lake in Connecticut, during summer 2006 and found that migration on 24-hour and seasonal timescales was influenced by conditions of the environment and characteristics of the individual. To identify environmental cues of juvenile migration, we continuously video recorded fish at the lake outflow and employed information-theoretic model selection to identify the best predictors of daily migration rate. More than 80% of the approximately 320,000 juveniles that migrated from mid-June to mid-August departed in three pulses lasting one or two days. Pulses of migration were associated with precipitation events, transient …

Diel Fish Habitat Selection In A Tributary Stream, Andria K. Salas, Eric B. Snyder

Peer Reviewed Publications

This study investigated the location and diel habitat preferences (at 100 m reach scale) of fish in a small tributary stream in late spring, early summer. During the day, coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) preferred areas with more cover (deeper, greater extent of undercut banks) vs. night when LWD was preferred (Pearson correlation and step-wise MLR). Chinook (O. tshawytscha) exhibited an opposite pattern, preferring LWD during the day vs. higher velocity at night. This suggests these two potadromous species may be partitioning resources. Pooling coho, chinook and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) indicated reaches with more LWD …

Temporal Shifts In Demography And Life History Of An Anadromous Alewife Population In Connecticut, Justin P. Davis, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Populations of anadromous alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) are declining throughout much of their range, particularly in southern New England where fishery moratoriums have recently been instituted in three states. The alewife run at Bride Brook, a coastal stream in East Lyme, Connecticut, was studied from 2003-06 to assess shifts in demography and life history. Annual censuses of abundance, along with sampling for size, age, and spawning history structure were conducted. These data were compared to similar data in 1966-67 at this site. Recent alewife runs at Bride Brook featured lower abundance and younger, smaller fish that were less likely to be …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 63 - Western Rock Lobster Ecological Risk Assessment, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia, International Risk Consultants Group Of Companies

Fisheries Occasional Publications

This Ecological Risk Assessment, conducted by IRC Environment (part of International Risk Consultants) and Department of Fisheries WA (FWA) was the result of an initiative by the WA Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) and (FWA). This report is based on a risk assessment workshop undertaken in February 2001 at the FWA Marine Research Laboratories in Waterman but includes additional background material to justify some of the rankings of the workshop.

The broad intent of the workshop was to provide a register of the potential main ecological risks that arise from the various activities carried out by the western rock lobster (WRL) …

Estrogenic Compounds Downstream From Three Small Cities In Eastern Nebraska: Occurrence And Biological Effect, Marlo K. Sellin, Daniel D. Snow, Debbie L. Akerly, Alan S. Kolok

Biology Faculty Publications

Recent studies have detected estrogenic compounds in surface waters in North America and Europe. Furthermore, the presence of estrogenic compounds in surface waters has been attributed, in some cases, to the discharge of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. The primary objective of the current study was to determine if WWTP effluent contributes estrogens to the surface waters of Nebraska. A second objective of this study was to determine if estrogens were found in concentrations sufficient enough to manifest feminizing effects on fish. These objectives were satisfied by deploying polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) and caged fathead minnows at eight …