Abstract
The trade of aquarium organisms is growing worldwide. This market depends on a continuous supply of healthy and colorful aquatic animals, but this sector has few initiatives. However, in the last decade, there has been a growing interest in researching captive breeding of these animals, aiming to develop a more sustainable aquarium hobby. Larviculture is an important phase in the cultivation process because the larvae are more sensitive to stress and variations in the bulk of variables, such as temperature, salinity, nutritional management, light intensity and spectrum, and environmental background colors. Because background color could be a promoter variable of proper welfare, we tested whether it affects the endocrine response of tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus larvae to an acute stress challenge. We show that background color influences the endocrine stress axis responsiveness in tomato clownfish. When fish were subjected to a standard acute stressor of 61 days after hatching, only fish adapted to white walls increased the whole-body cortisol levels. From the results presented herein, we recommend that white tanks be avoided for A. frenatus larviculture. Both, the less stress level and the good welfare condition of larvae reared in colored tanks may have robust, practical applications since almost all clownfish in the ornamental aquarium trade come from captive breeding.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the following laboratories that provided support during the study: Laboratório de Moluscos Marinhos (LMM/UFSC), Laboratório de Camarão Marinho (LCM/UFSC), LAPMAR, and Laboratório de Cultivo de Algas (LCA/UFSC). The authors are also indebted to graduate students Suelen Mendonça-Soares, Milena Fortuna, Wagner Antonio Tamagno, Amanda Carolina Cole Varela, and Aline Pompermaier and to undergraduate students of Fish Physiology Lab of the University of Passo Fundo for all the assistance and skillful techniques during the whole-body cortisol analyses and determination.
Funding
This study was supported by grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Extensão Universitária/UFSC for projects already under development, and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Tecnologia (CNPq) (research productivity grant number 302167/2022-6 received by LJGB). The study was also supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES - Finance Code 001), with a scholar fellowship to TMLS.
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TMLS, MYT, and LJGB conceived the study. The laboratory experiments and analyses were performed by TMLS and EMOS. LJGB and APON performed the statistical analyses. The data was discussed, referenced, and reviewed by TMLS, EMOS, APON, and LJGB. This work was under the supervision of MYT, APON, and LJGB. The original draft and review of the writing were performed by TMLS, APON, and LJGB. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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This study complies with the guidelines of the National Council for Animal Experimentation Control (CONCEA) and was approved by the Ethics Commission for Animal Use Committee (CEUA) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil (Protocol #8653190221 – CEUA/UFSC).
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dos Santos, T.M.L., de Oliveira Sousa, E.M., Tsuzuki, M.Y. et al. Tank color influences the response of tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus) to an acute stress challenge. Fish Physiol Biochem 49, 577–584 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01203-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01203-7