Anthropomorphic Denial Of Fish Pain,
2016
University of Liverpool
Anthropomorphic Denial Of Fish Pain, Lynne U. Sneddon, Matthew C. Leach
Animal Sentience
Key (2016) affirms that we do not know how the fish brain processes pain but denies — because fish lack a human-like cortex — that fish can feel pain. He affirms that birds, like fish, have a singly-laminated cortex and that the structure of the bird brain is quite different from that of the human brain, yet he does not deny that birds can feel pain. In this commentary we describe how Key cites studies that substantiate mammalian pain but discounts the same kind of data as evidence of fish pain. We suggest that Key's interpretations are illogical, do not …
Why Is Fish “Feeling” Pain Controversial?,
2016
[email protected]
Why Is Fish “Feeling” Pain Controversial?, E. Don Stevens
Animal Sentience
In his excellent target article, Key (2016) develops a mechanistic argument in an attempt to show why it is unlikely that fish can “feel” pain or for that matter, “feel” anything. The topic is controversial and likely to achieve the goal of getting many hits for the inaugural issue of the new journal, Animal Sentience. In my view, the question is unlikely to be answered, for two reasons. First, because the proponents of the “fish feel pain” controversy are untrained and unskilled in the details and jargon of neurophysiology and/or neuroanatomy, and the opponents of the controversy, like Key, …
How Not To Move The Line Drawn On Pain,
2016
no institutional affiliation
How Not To Move The Line Drawn On Pain, Bjorn H. Merker
Animal Sentience
In this second commentary I outline the inadequacy of Key's responses to the many peer critiques of his thesis that have so far appeared in Animal Sentience. I illustrate with examples drawn from his response to my first commentary.
Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes,
2016
Macquarie University
Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes, Culum Brown
Animal Sentience
Arguments against the fact that fish feel pain repeatedly appear even in the face of growing evidence that they do. The standards used to judge pain perception keep moving as the hurdles are repeatedly cleared by novel research findings. There is undoubtedly a vested commercial interest in proving that fish do not feel pain, so the topic has a half-life well past its due date. Key (2016) reiterates previous perspectives on this topic characterised by a black-or-white view that is based on the proposed role of the human cortex in pain perception. I argue that this is incongruent with our …
Could Fish Feel Pain? A Wider Perspective,
2016
Nanyang Technological University
Could Fish Feel Pain? A Wider Perspective, Yew-Kwang Ng
Animal Sentience
Key’s (2016) target article provides some strong arguments but also makes some logical mistakes. The arguments are not sufficient to support a definite conclusion that fish cannot feel pain. A multi-faceted perspective taking into account brain structure, chemical secretion in brain, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology may be useful and appears, at least in some aspects, to suggest the opposite conclusion from that of the target article.
Should Fish Feel Pain? A Plant Perspective,
2016
University of Bonn
Should Fish Feel Pain? A Plant Perspective, František Baluška
Animal Sentience
Key (2016) claims fish that fish do not feel pain because they lack the necessary neuronal architecture: their responses to noxious stimuli, according to Key, are executed automatically without any feelings. However, as pointed out by many of his commentators, this conclusion is not convincing. Plants might provide some clues. Plants are not usually thought to be very active behaviorally, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Moreover, in stressful situations, plants produce numerous chemicals that have painkilling and anesthetic properties. Finally, plants, when treated with anesthetics, cannot execute active behaviors such as touch-induced leaf movements or rapid trap closures after localizing …
Fish Pain: An Inconvenient Truth,
2016
Macquarie University
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,
2016
Stony Brook University
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?
Pain-Capable Neural Substrates May Be Widely Available In The Animal Kingdom,
2016
University of Texas Medical School at Houston
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 …
Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain,
2016
The University of Queensland
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 …
Cognitive Evidence Of Fish Sentience,
2016
Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
Cognitive Evidence Of Fish Sentience, Jonathan Balcombe
Animal Sentience
I present a little-known example of flexible, opportunistic behavior by a species of fish to undermine Key’s (2016) thesis that fish are unconscious and unable to feel. Lack of a cortex is flimsy grounds for denying pain to fish, for on that criterion we must also then deny it to all non-mammals, including birds, which goes against scientific consensus. Notwithstanding science’s fundamental inability to prove anything, the precautionary principal dictates that we should give the benefit of the doubt to fish, and the state of the oceans dictates that we act on it now.
Fish Lack The Brains And The Psychology For Pain,
2016
National University of Singapore
Fish Lack The Brains And The Psychology For Pain, Stuart W.G. Derbyshire
Animal Sentience
Debate about the possibility of fish pain focuses largely on the fish’s lack of the cortex considered necessary for generating pain. That view is appealing because it avoids relatively abstract debate about the nature of pain experience and subjectivity. Unfortunately, however, that debate cannot be entirely avoided. Subcortical circuits in the fish might support an immediate, raw, “pain” experience. The necessity of the cortex only becomes obvious when considering pain as an explicitly felt subjective experience. Attributing pain to fish only seems absurd when pain is considered as a state of explicit knowing.
What Would The Babel Fish Say?,
2016
The University of Western Australia
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 …
Modulation Of Behavior In Communicating Emotion,
2016
Brown University
Modulation Of Behavior In Communicating Emotion, Martin Gardiner
Animal Sentience
King discusses many examples where two animals, as they bond, behave in ways we interpret as expressing love for one another. If one of the bonded animals then dies, signs of loving are replaced by signs we interpret as expressing grief by the animal who remains. I propose a pathway for emotional communication between an animal and an observer that can have a central role in these and other observations by King and in our overall ability to interpret observed behavior in relation to emotion. This pathway provides evidence of emotion in an observed animal by communicating evidence of emotion’s …
Spinning Our Wheels And Deepening The Divide: Call For An Evidence-Based Approach To The Fish Pain Debate,
2016
Carleton University
Spinning Our Wheels And Deepening The Divide: Call For An Evidence-Based Approach To The Fish Pain Debate, Steven J. Cooke
Animal Sentience
There is vigorous ongoing debate about whether fish feel pain and have the capacity to suffer. The body of literature dedicated to the topic is increasing but what is particularly problematic is that the majority of the contributions represent opinion pieces and thus fall within the realm of advocacy. Many of the empirical research papers purporting that fish do or do not feel pain have problems with cavalier use of definitions, poor experimental design, or statistical/technical issues and tend to include advocacy statements in their interpretations. Rather than continuing to spin our wheels and deepen the divide, I would advocate …
Occurrence Of Caryophyllaeid Parasite Species (Plathelminthes) In Chub, Squalis Cephalus, Of Serban Dam Lake, Turkey: Including A New Host And A New Locality, Meli̇ke Açikel Yi̇ği̇t, Mehmet Oğuz Öztürk
Turkish Journal of Zoology
An examination was conducted on caryophyllaeid cestode fauna of Squalius cephalus obtained from Serban Dam Lake in Turkey between February 2009 and August 2010. At the end of the study, from the 114 S. Cephalus examined, 14 host fish specimens were infected with 75 Caryophyllaeus brachycollis (prevalence 12.3% and mean parasite intensity 5.3 ± 10.0 parasites/fish) and one host fish specimen was infected with 65 Biacetabulum appendiculatum (prevalence 0.9%, 65 parasites). Infection data of the parasite species were evaluated for seasons, host fish size, and sex. The period of the study covered the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. …
First Record Of The Family Proctotrupidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea)From Iran, With Five New Species Records,
2016
TÜBİTAK
First Record Of The Family Proctotrupidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea)From Iran, With Five New Species Records, Mohammad Izadizadeh, Ali Asghar Talebi, Victor A. Kolyada, Ehsan Rakhshani
Turkish Journal of Zoology
This survey was conducted to investigate the occurrence of the family Proctotrupidae in Iran. The specimens were collected using Malaise traps from northern Iran during 2010 and 2011. The family Proctotrupidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea) is recorded from Iran for the first time. Five species belonging to four genera were identified: Proctotrupes gravidator (Linnaeus, 1758); P. Brachypterus (Schrank, 1780); Cryptoserphus aculeator (Haliday, 1839); Disogmus obsoletus Brues, 1905; and Mischoserphus arcuator (Stelfox, 1950). All genera and species are new records for the fauna of Iran. An identification key for the genera of Proctotrupidae is provided.
Two New Species Of Trechnites (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) Fromchina And A Key To Chinese Species,
2016
TÜBİTAK
Two New Species Of Trechnites (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) Fromchina And A Key To Chinese Species, Guohao Zu, Chengde Li
Turkish Journal of Zoology
Trechnites brevivalvus sp. Nov. And Trechnites verticalis sp. Nov. Are described and illustrated as new to science from China. A key to all known species from China based on females is presented. Three species of the genus Trechnites are now known from China.
Contribution To The Knowledge Of The Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera)Fauna Of Turkey From Northeastern Anatolia, Part I,
2016
TÜBİTAK
Contribution To The Knowledge Of The Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera)Fauna Of Turkey From Northeastern Anatolia, Part I, Janko Kolarov, Sali̇ha Çoruh, İrfan Çoruh
Turkish Journal of Zoology
This present contribution is based upon the ichneumonids collected from the northeastern Anatolian part of Turkey in 2014. A total of 57 species belonging to subfamilies Acaenitinae, Anomaloninae, Banchinae, Campopleginae, Cremastinae, Cryptinae, Diplazontinae, Ichneumoninae, Metopiinae, Orthocentrinae, Oxytorinae, Pimplinae, and Tryphoninae have been recorded. Among them, Agrypon clandestinum (Gravenhorst), Lissonota (Lissonota) nitida (Gravenhorst), Campoletis agilis (Holmgren), Diadegma combinatum (Holmgren), Olesicampe cavigena (Thomson), Olesicampe patellana (Thomson), Aptesis assimilis (Gravenhorst), Schreineria populnea (Giraud), Xylophrurus lancifer (Gravenhorst), Diplazon pallicoxa Manukyan, Homotropus pallipes (Gravenhorst), Woldstedtius biguttatus (Gravenhorst), and Oxytorus luridator (Gravenhorst) are new records for the Turkish fauna. New data on the distribution of 40 …
The First Certified Record Of The Endemic Fish Speciespachychilon Macedonicum (Steindachner, 1892) In A Lake Complex Outsideof Its Nominal Range, With Notes On Its Biological Features, Dimitra Bobori, Olga Petriki, Emmanouel Tsakoumis
Turkish Journal of Zoology
The cyprinid Pachychilon macedonicum (Steindachner, 1892) is a species that is endemic to the southern Balkan Peninsula with limited distribution in Greece. Here we confirm the species' expansion and establishment in a complex of 4 lakes located outside of its currently known distribution range and provide, for the first time, some of its biological features. The species' presence was certified in 3 (Vegoritida, Petron, Chimaditida; northern central Greece) of the 4 lakes studied (Lake Zazari was also sampled), which now constitute a new western limit for its distribution in Greece. Pachychilon macedonicum specimens in Lake Vegoritida were longer (mean length: …
