Angry Fish Inhabit Most Home Aquariums
By Jennifer Viegas
Home fish tanks and aquariums may at first appear to be tranquil environments, but look closely and you might see a glaring goldfish or a ticked off tetra.
A new study has found that ornamental fish across the U.S. – all 182.9 million of them – are at risk of becoming aggressive due to cramped, barren housing.
In other words, fish can turn mean when their home sucks, according to a new study in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.
“The welfare of aquarium fishes may not seem important, but with that many of them in captivity, they become a big deal,” project leader Ronald Oldfield, an instructor of biology at Case Western Reserve University, said in a press release.
Oldfield’s paper is the first to scientifically study how the environment of home aquariums affects the aggressive behavior of ornamental fishes. The findings are in keeping with related research, though. For example, earlier this year I reported on how cramped tank conditions are turning sea urchins into cannibals.
For this latest study, Oldfield compared the behavior of Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus) in a variety of environments: within their native range in a crater lake in Nicaragua, in a large artificial stream in a zoo, and in small tanks the sizes typically used by pet owners.
The study looked at just juvenile fish in order to remove the possibility of aggressive behavior related to mating. The experiments were also set up so that the fish weren’t competing for food and shelter.
In addition to tank size, he tested the complexity of an environment and the effects of the number of fish within tanks. “Complexity” in this case refers to the addition of obstacles and hiding places, such as rocks, plants, and other objects. Tanks with more complexity, and of a larger size, helped to reduce aggressive behaviors.
Tempers were observed to literally flare, however, in the less desirable aquariums, with perturbed fish flaring their fins. But that was on the low end of the anger spectrum. Very ticked off fish nipped, chased, charged, and even murdered each other.
From the fish’s perspective, life in a too-small and dreary tank might even feel like a jail cell does to us.
So if you do have a fish tank at home, give it the once over to see if a replacement or remodeling job is needed. If you plan to set up a new aquarium, don’t select the cheap, stagnant water models that will have you flushing your pet investment down the toilet soon.
About Reptiles, Amphibians and Arthropods Reptiles, amphibians and land invertebrates are extremely ancient creatures, and have been a part of many culture’s folklore for many generations. A good example is the snake. Snakes gained an evil reputation in their depiction in the Garden of Eden, yet they have also become a symbol of health, hygiene, and medicine, as depicted by the snake entwined around the Greek god of healing, Aesculapius. In natural science, amphibians and reptiles are bundled together as the study of Herpetology, which is a branch of Zoology. Collectively they are known as herps, herptiles, or herpetofauna. The term herpetology” is derived from the Greek work “herpton”, meaning a creeping thing. Herptiles are vertebrates and include both reptiles and amphibians. The animal world is inhabited with approximately 58,000 species of vertebrates, which seems like a lot, yet is only about 3% of all animal species. Invertebrates make up the bulk of the animals at 97% of the species. The arthropods are land invertebrates and include the arachnids (scorpions, whip scorpions, and tarantulas), centipedes, millipedes, and many others. In more recent times, keeping these amazing animals as pets has seen an explosion of interest. The number of both professional and amateur herpetologists is greatly increasing. This has been helped by improvements in communications and the growing interest in wildlife, impassioned by ever improving nature films and documentaries. This interest has continued to develop and grow the hobby, and has resulted in an increased knowledge of breeding techniques and general herptile care. The ultimate reward for both the animal world and humanity is people equipped with knowledge and the ability to help maintain and possibly same many endangered species from extinction.