Abstract
BackgroundTelemetry applied to aquatic organisms has recently developed greatly. Physiological sensors have been increasingly used as tools for fish welfare monitoring. However, for the technology to be used as a reliable welfare indicator, it is important that the tagging procedure does not disrupt fish physiology, behaviour and performance. In this communication, we share our medium-term data on stress physiological profile and growth performance after surgical tag implantation in two important marine fish species for European aquaculture, the sea bream (Sparus aurata) and the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax).ResultsBlood samples after surgical tag implantation (46 days for the sea bream and 95 days for the sea bass) revealed no differences between tagged and untagged fish in cortisol, glucose and lactate levels, suggesting that the tag implantation does not induce prolonged stress in these species. Moreover, the specific growth rates were similar in the tagged and untagged fish of both species.ConclusionSurgical tag implantation does not have medium-term consequences for the stress physiology and growth performance of these two marine fish species in a controlled environment. These observations support the use of accelerometer tags as valuable tools for welfare monitoring in aquaculture conditions. This study also shows that tagged fish can be sampled during experiments and considered a representative portion of the population, as they display growth and physiological parameters comparable to those of untagged fish.
Highlights
Telemetry applied to aquatic organisms has recently developed greatly
In terms of growth performance, the specific growth rates (SGR) was similar between the tagged and untagged fish for both the sea bream (W = 38, p = 0.44) and the sea bass (t = − 0.58, p = 0.56; Fig. 2) between t0 and t1, which correspond to a period of 64 days for the sea breams and 95 days for the sea bass
Our results show that after a relatively long period (46 days for the sea bream and 95 days for the sea bass) following surgical implantation of accelerometer tags, the tagged fish were comparable with the untagged fish in terms of both growth and stress physiology in aquaculture conditions
Summary
Telemetry applied to aquatic organisms has recently developed greatly. Physiological sensors have been increasingly used as tools for fish welfare monitoring. For the technology to be used as a reliable welfare indicator, it is important that the tagging procedure does not disrupt fish physiology, behaviour and performance. Telemetry applied to aquatic organisms has greatly developed in terms of tag miniaturization, battery life, software and hardware [1]. These tags are precious tools for the characterization and monitoring of behaviour in a wide range of organisms, including. The implantation method and site and the tag’s size are important factors for preventing the disruption of the physiological state, normal movement, and growth performance of tagged fish [10–13] and avoiding bias in the collected data. Most of our knowledge about the link between surgical implantation of electronic tag and stress is mainly based on salmonids [14, 16, 17]; more species-specific information is needed
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