PUBLICATION
Fish can show emotional fever: stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish
- Authors
- Rey, S., Huntingford, F.A., Boltaña, S., Vargas, R., Knowles, T.G., Mackenzie, S.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-151127-3
- Date
- 2015
- Source
- Proceedings. Biological sciences 282(1819): (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- consciousness, emotional fever, fish sentience, fish welfare, stress-induced hyperthermia, zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Body Temperature*
- Consciousness
- Emotions*
- Hot Temperature
- Stress, Psychological*
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 26609087 Full text @ Proc. Biol. Sci.
Citation
Rey, S., Huntingford, F.A., Boltaña, S., Vargas, R., Knowles, T.G., Mackenzie, S. (2015) Fish can show emotional fever: stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish. Proceedings. Biological sciences. 282(1819).
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.
Errata / Notes
Reply to comment: Stress induced hyperthermia in zebrafish: a reply to Key et al.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping