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...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marielle Thomas, Jean-Gabriel Reynaud, Yannick Ledoré, Alain Pasquet, Thomas Lecocq
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-04-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3674
_version_ 1797440257289879552
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.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T12:04:33Z
format Article
id doaj.art-40245b9a8a6c4ba1a317d951a203a804
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2076-3417
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T12:04:33Z
publishDate 2022-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Applied Sciences
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
work_keys_str_mv AT mariellethomas enrichmentinafishpolyculturedoesitaffectfishbehaviouranddevelopmentofonlyonespeciesorboth
AT jeangabrielreynaud enrichmentinafishpolyculturedoesitaffectfishbehaviouranddevelopmentofonlyonespeciesorboth
AT yannickledore enrichmentinafishpolyculturedoesitaffectfishbehaviouranddevelopmentofonlyonespeciesorboth
AT alainpasquet enrichmentinafishpolyculturedoesitaffectfishbehaviouranddevelopmentofonlyonespeciesorboth
AT thomaslecocq enrichmentinafishpolyculturedoesitaffectfishbehaviouranddevelopmentofonlyonespeciesorboth