Fish can show emotional fever : stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish
Rey i Planellas, Sònia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Huntingford, Felicity A. (University of Stirling. School of Natural Sciences)
Boltana, Sebastian (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Vargas, Reynaldo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Knowles, Toby G. (University of Bristol. School of Veterinary Science)
Mackenzie, Simon (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")

Date:	2015
Abstract:	Whether fishes are sentient beings remains an unresolved and controversial question. Among characteristics thought to reflect a low level of sentience in fishes is an inability to show stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH), a transient rise in body temperature shown in response to a variety of stressors. This is a real fever response, so is often referred to as 'emotional fever'. It has been suggested that the capacity for emotional fever evolved only in amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles), in association with the evolution of consciousness in these groups. According to this view, lack of emotional fever in fishes reflects a lack of consciousness. We report here on a study in which six zebrafish groups with access to a temperature gradient were either left as undisturbed controls or subjected to a short period of confinement. The results were striking: compared to controls, stressed zebrafish spent significantly more time at higher temperatures, achieving an estimated rise in body temperature of about 2-4°C. Thus, zebrafish clearly have the capacity to show emotional fever. While the link between emotion and consciousness is still debated, this finding removes a key argument for lack of consciousness in fishes.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación AGL2011-28921-C03-01 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CSD2007-0002
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Zebrafish ; Consciousness ; Stress-induced hyperthermia ; Emotional fever ; Fish sentience ; Fish welfare
Published in:	Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 282, issue 1819 (Nov. 2015) , art. 20152266, ISSN 1471-2954

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2266
PMID: 26609087

7 p, 599.3 KB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina (IBB)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles