Health & Care of Laboratory Animals: Recent Perspectives on Zebrafish Management and Welfare

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 2842

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 41345 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Interests: behavioral neuroscience; cognitive neuroscience; memory; neurobiology and brain physiology; learning and memory; inflammation; imaging; genetics; neurophysiology; neurobiology; neurodegeneration; neurodegenerative diseases; animal welfare,

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a commonly used research animal all around the world. It has been estimated that over 3250 institutes in 100 countries are currently working with zebrafish. Given its popularity as a laboratory animal, there is relatively little research being conducted on zebrafish welfare, and there are no global guidelines regarding different aspects of zebrafish handling and husbandry that are built on evidence-based systematic research. Apart from ensuring that laboratory zebrafish receive appropriate care, establishing and following standardized guidelines for handling and housing research animals also allows for reproducibility of experimental data and the possibility of data sharing and meta-analysis which, in turn, can reduce the number of animals used in testing.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect the latest knowledge in the field of zebrafish welfare and provide an updated collection of tools and techniques that can increase zebrafish welfare. We are inviting original papers evaluating the effects of different housing conditions (such as feeding regime and water quality) and experimental methods on zebrafish welfare as well as original papers presenting new research techniques that can improve zebrafish welfare. Furthermore, innovative methods to evaluate zebrafish welfare are very welcome, including but not limited to behavioral and physiological approaches. Moreover, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of research techniques and housing conditions of zebrafish in relation to animal welfare are also invited, as they can serve as a basis for future establishment of general guidelines for the zebrafish research community.    

Dr. Petronella Kettunen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • welfare indicators
  • research animals
  • the 3Rs
  • guidelines
  • husbandry
  • fish diseases
  • water quality

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2150 KiB  
Article
Housing Conditions Affect Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Behavior but Not Their Physiological Status
by Sara Jorge, Luís Félix, Benjamín Costas and Ana M. Valentim
Animals 2023, 13(6), 1120; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13061120 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1925
Abstract
Zebrafish is a valuable model for neuroscience research, but the housing conditions to which it is exposed daily may be impairing its welfare status. The use of environmental enrichment and the refinement of methodology for cortisol measurement could reduce stress, improving its welfare [...] Read more.
Zebrafish is a valuable model for neuroscience research, but the housing conditions to which it is exposed daily may be impairing its welfare status. The use of environmental enrichment and the refinement of methodology for cortisol measurement could reduce stress, improving its welfare and its suitability as an animal model used in stress research. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate (I) the influence of different housing conditions on zebrafish physiology and behavior, and (II) skin mucus potential for cortisol measurement in adult zebrafish. For this, AB zebrafish were raised under barren or enriched (PVC pipes and gravel image) environmental conditions. After 6 months, their behavior was assessed by different behavioral paradigms (shoaling, white-black box test, and novel tank). The physiological response was also evaluated through cortisol levels (whole-body homogenates and skin mucus) and brain oxidative stress markers. The results revealed that enriched-housed fish had an increased nearest neighbors’ distance and reduced activity. However, no effect on body length or stress biomarkers was observed; whole-body and skin mucus cortisol levels had the same profile between groups. In conclusion, this study highlights the skin mucus potential as a matrix for cortisol quantification, and how housing conditions could influence the data in future studies. Full article
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