Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>)
Thanks to its small size, external fertilization and fecundity, over the past four decades, zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) has become the dominant fish model species in biological and biomedical research. Multiple lines of evidence, however, suggest that the reliance on only a handful of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/786 |
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| author | Anita Rácz Gábor Adorján Erika Fodor Boglárka Sellyei Mohammed Tolba Ádám Miklósi Máté Varga |
| author_facet | Anita Rácz Gábor Adorján Erika Fodor Boglárka Sellyei Mohammed Tolba Ádám Miklósi Máté Varga |
| author_sort | Anita Rácz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Thanks to its small size, external fertilization and fecundity, over the past four decades, zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) has become the dominant fish model species in biological and biomedical research. Multiple lines of evidence, however, suggest that the reliance on only a handful of genetic model organisms is problematic, as their unique evolutionary histories makes them less than ideal to study biological questions unrelated to their historically contingent adaptations. Therefore, a need has emerged to develop novel model species, better suited for studying particular problems. The paradise fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) has a much more complex behavioral repertoire than zebrafish and has been a favored model animal in ethological research during the last decades of the previous century. We believe that with currently available, easily adaptable genetic toolkits, this species could be easily developed into a popular model of behavioral genetics. Despite its earlier popularity, however, the description of a detailed housing and husbandry protocol for this species is still missing from scientific literature. We present here a detailed description of how to raise and breed paradise fish successfully under laboratory conditions, and also discuss some of the challenges we faced while creating a stable breeding population for this species in our facility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:19:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1798896c6744dd1a354aa452a945bae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:19:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1798896c6744dd1a354aa452a945bae2023-11-21T10:09:47ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-03-0111378610.3390/ani11030786Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>)Anita Rácz0Gábor Adorján1Erika Fodor2Boglárka Sellyei3Mohammed Tolba4Ádám Miklósi5Máté Varga6Department of Genetics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1C, 1117 Budapest, HungaryBudapest Zoo, Állatkerti krt. 6-12, H-1146 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Genetics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1C, 1117 Budapest, HungaryFish Pathology and Parasitology Team, Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungária krt. 21, 1143 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Helwan 11795, EgyptDepartment of Ethology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1C, 1117 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Genetics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1C, 1117 Budapest, HungaryThanks to its small size, external fertilization and fecundity, over the past four decades, zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) has become the dominant fish model species in biological and biomedical research. Multiple lines of evidence, however, suggest that the reliance on only a handful of genetic model organisms is problematic, as their unique evolutionary histories makes them less than ideal to study biological questions unrelated to their historically contingent adaptations. Therefore, a need has emerged to develop novel model species, better suited for studying particular problems. The paradise fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) has a much more complex behavioral repertoire than zebrafish and has been a favored model animal in ethological research during the last decades of the previous century. We believe that with currently available, easily adaptable genetic toolkits, this species could be easily developed into a popular model of behavioral genetics. Despite its earlier popularity, however, the description of a detailed housing and husbandry protocol for this species is still missing from scientific literature. We present here a detailed description of how to raise and breed paradise fish successfully under laboratory conditions, and also discuss some of the challenges we faced while creating a stable breeding population for this species in our facility.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/786paradise fishfish husbandryfish welfarefish housingcourtship behavioranabantoid fish |
| spellingShingle | Anita Rácz Gábor Adorján Erika Fodor Boglárka Sellyei Mohammed Tolba Ádám Miklósi Máté Varga Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) Animals paradise fish fish husbandry fish welfare fish housing courtship behavior anabantoid fish |
| title | Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) |
| title_full | Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) |
| title_fullStr | Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) |
| title_short | Housing, Husbandry and Welfare of a “Classic” Fish Model, the Paradise Fish (<i>Macropodus opercularis</i>) |
| title_sort | housing husbandry and welfare of a classic fish model the paradise fish i macropodus opercularis i |
| topic | paradise fish fish husbandry fish welfare fish housing courtship behavior anabantoid fish |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/786 |
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