Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors
Humans are a constant in the lives of captive animals, but the effects of human–animal interactions vary. Research on the welfare impacts of human–animal interactions focus predominantly on mammals, whereas fish have been overlooked. To address this lack of research, we assessed the impacts of aquar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/22/3526 |
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| author | Jordyn Truax Jennifer Vonk Eness Meri Sandra M. Troxell-Smith |
| author_facet | Jordyn Truax Jennifer Vonk Eness Meri Sandra M. Troxell-Smith |
| author_sort | Jordyn Truax |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans are a constant in the lives of captive animals, but the effects of human–animal interactions vary. Research on the welfare impacts of human–animal interactions focus predominantly on mammals, whereas fish have been overlooked. To address this lack of research, we assessed the impacts of aquarium visitors on the behaviors of ten members of four elasmobranch species: an Atlantic stingray (<i>Dasyatis sabina</i>), four southern stingrays (<i>Hypanus americanus</i>), two blue-spotted maskrays (<i>Neotrygon kuhlii</i>), and three fiddler rays (<i>Trygonorrhina dumerilii</i>). The rays engaged in a significantly higher proportion of active behaviors and a lower proportion of inactive behaviors when visitor density levels were high; however, there were no significant changes for negative or social behaviors. Individual analyses indicated that all three fiddler rays and one of the southern stingrays’ active behaviors differed across visitor density levels, whereas there was no association between active behavior and visitor density levels for the other rays. Further research is needed to determine whether this pattern is an adaptive or maladaptive response to visitors, but this research provides much needed initial data on activity budgets within elasmobranch species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:05:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88331a0be6434e64aced9ebe078412ed |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:05:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-88331a0be6434e64aced9ebe078412ed2023-11-24T14:24:51ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-11-011322352610.3390/ani13223526Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More VisitorsJordyn Truax0Jennifer Vonk1Eness Meri2Sandra M. Troxell-Smith3Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USADepartment of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USAHumans are a constant in the lives of captive animals, but the effects of human–animal interactions vary. Research on the welfare impacts of human–animal interactions focus predominantly on mammals, whereas fish have been overlooked. To address this lack of research, we assessed the impacts of aquarium visitors on the behaviors of ten members of four elasmobranch species: an Atlantic stingray (<i>Dasyatis sabina</i>), four southern stingrays (<i>Hypanus americanus</i>), two blue-spotted maskrays (<i>Neotrygon kuhlii</i>), and three fiddler rays (<i>Trygonorrhina dumerilii</i>). The rays engaged in a significantly higher proportion of active behaviors and a lower proportion of inactive behaviors when visitor density levels were high; however, there were no significant changes for negative or social behaviors. Individual analyses indicated that all three fiddler rays and one of the southern stingrays’ active behaviors differed across visitor density levels, whereas there was no association between active behavior and visitor density levels for the other rays. Further research is needed to determine whether this pattern is an adaptive or maladaptive response to visitors, but this research provides much needed initial data on activity budgets within elasmobranch species.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/22/3526zoo animal welfareaquariumelasmobranchvisitor effect |
| spellingShingle | Jordyn Truax Jennifer Vonk Eness Meri Sandra M. Troxell-Smith Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors Animals zoo animal welfare aquarium elasmobranch visitor effect |
| title | Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors |
| title_full | Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors |
| title_fullStr | Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors |
| title_short | Aquarium Visitors Catch Some Rays: Rays Are More Active in the Presence of More Visitors |
| title_sort | aquarium visitors catch some rays rays are more active in the presence of more visitors |
| topic | zoo animal welfare aquarium elasmobranch visitor effect |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/22/3526 |
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