Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both?
Physical enrichment of structures has been used for the last decades in aquaculture to improve fish production and welfare. Until now, this enrichment has been practiced in fish monoculture but not in fish polyculture. In this study, we developed a polyculture of two freshwater species (pikeperch an...
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3674 |
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author | Marielle Thomas Jean-Gabriel Reynaud Yannick Ledoré Alain Pasquet Thomas Lecocq |
author_facet | Marielle Thomas Jean-Gabriel Reynaud Yannick Ledoré Alain Pasquet Thomas Lecocq |
author_sort | Marielle Thomas |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Physical enrichment of structures has been used for the last decades in aquaculture to improve fish production and welfare. Until now, this enrichment has been practiced in fish monoculture but not in fish polyculture. In this study, we developed a polyculture of two freshwater species (pikeperch and sterlet) in recirculated systems (tank of 2.4 m<sup>3</sup>) with or without physical structures for enrichment. Two types of structures were used: a cover plank on a part of the tank decreasing the light intensity and vertical pipes modifying the water flow. The experiment was conducted in triplicate for a three-month period with juvenile fishes (143 ± 41 g and 27.3 ± 2.2 cm for pikeperch and 133 ± 21 g and 32.8 ± 1.6 cm for sterlet). Behavioural (space occupation and abnormal behaviours) and morphological (total length, final weight, Fulton condition factor, coefficient of variation of the final weight, percentage of biomass gain and specific growth rate) traits were measured. The pikeperch changed their space occupation and showed a preference for low light areas. Sterlet also changed their space occupation: they did not use the cover and occurred mainly in the part of the tank without enrichment. There was no difference for the frequency of abnormal behaviours for pikeperch and sterlet between the two sets (with or without enrichment). There was no statistical difference between the two sets for all the morphological and growth parameters no matter the species and the rearing modality. |
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spelling | doaj.art-40245b9a8a6c4ba1a317d951a203a8042023-11-30T22:58:58ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-04-01127367410.3390/app12073674Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both?Marielle Thomas0Jean-Gabriel Reynaud1Yannick Ledoré2Alain Pasquet3Thomas Lecocq4Unit Research Animal and Functionality of Animal Products (UR AFPA), INRAE—National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (France), University of Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, FranceUnit Research Animal and Functionality of Animal Products (UR AFPA), INRAE—National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (France), University of Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, FranceUnit Research Animal and Functionality of Animal Products (UR AFPA), INRAE—National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (France), University of Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, FranceUnit Research Animal and Functionality of Animal Products (UR AFPA), INRAE—National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (France), University of Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, FranceUnit Research Animal and Functionality of Animal Products (UR AFPA), INRAE—National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (France), University of Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, FrancePhysical enrichment of structures has been used for the last decades in aquaculture to improve fish production and welfare. Until now, this enrichment has been practiced in fish monoculture but not in fish polyculture. In this study, we developed a polyculture of two freshwater species (pikeperch and sterlet) in recirculated systems (tank of 2.4 m<sup>3</sup>) with or without physical structures for enrichment. Two types of structures were used: a cover plank on a part of the tank decreasing the light intensity and vertical pipes modifying the water flow. The experiment was conducted in triplicate for a three-month period with juvenile fishes (143 ± 41 g and 27.3 ± 2.2 cm for pikeperch and 133 ± 21 g and 32.8 ± 1.6 cm for sterlet). Behavioural (space occupation and abnormal behaviours) and morphological (total length, final weight, Fulton condition factor, coefficient of variation of the final weight, percentage of biomass gain and specific growth rate) traits were measured. The pikeperch changed their space occupation and showed a preference for low light areas. Sterlet also changed their space occupation: they did not use the cover and occurred mainly in the part of the tank without enrichment. There was no difference for the frequency of abnormal behaviours for pikeperch and sterlet between the two sets (with or without enrichment). There was no statistical difference between the two sets for all the morphological and growth parameters no matter the species and the rearing modality.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3674aquaculturephysical enrichmentinterspecies relationshipsfreshwater fishpikeperch (<i>Sander lucioperca</i>)sterlet (<i>Acipenser ruthenus</i>) |
spellingShingle | Marielle Thomas Jean-Gabriel Reynaud Yannick Ledoré Alain Pasquet Thomas Lecocq Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? Applied Sciences aquaculture physical enrichment interspecies relationships freshwater fish pikeperch (<i>Sander lucioperca</i>) sterlet (<i>Acipenser ruthenus</i>) |
title | Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? |
title_full | Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? |
title_fullStr | Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? |
title_full_unstemmed | Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? |
title_short | Enrichment in a Fish Polyculture: Does it Affect Fish Behaviour and Development of Only One Species or Both? |
title_sort | enrichment in a fish polyculture does it affect fish behaviour and development of only one species or both |
topic | aquaculture physical enrichment interspecies relationships freshwater fish pikeperch (<i>Sander lucioperca</i>) sterlet (<i>Acipenser ruthenus</i>) |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3674 |
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