A quantitative evaluation of environmental enrichment for stream fish at the Tennessee Aquarium

Environmental enrichment is utilized to elevate welfare of animals under human care; it has been shown to increase well-being, promote natural behaviors, and reduce maladaptive behaviors in fishes. I evaluated seasonal mimicking as environmental enrichment in the Tennessee Aquarium’s Ridges to Rivers stream tank. I quantified behaviors of tangerine darters and Tennessee dace in response to increasing temperature. If seasonal mimicking functions as environmental enrichment, I expected both species to exhibit behaviors consistent with those observed in wild populations. Tennessee dace became more active. Tangerine darters became more active, increased their space use, were more likely to be adjacent to another fish, and spent more time begging. Both species did not exhibit maladaptive behaviors. My results show that both species exhibit behaviors expected of wild populations, demonstrate that maladaptive behaviors do not arise in response to seasonal mimicking, and thus indicate that seasonal mimicking is effective enrichment for both species.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Year dc:date.available

2027

Author dc:creator

• McAllister, Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Klug, Hope
• Farnsley, Sarah; Aborn, David
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Aquarium fishes--Environmental enrichment--Seasonal variations--Tennessee--Research
• Aquatic animal welfare
• Fishes--Behavior--Tennessee--Research

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/1038

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2225