Behavioral and Reproductive Effects of Environmental Enrichment and infection on Adult Zebrafish ().

Recent studies have shown beneficial effects of environmental enrichment (EE) for zebrafish, while infection of zebrafish with the common pathogen has negative effects. This study investigates the effects of infection and EE in housing and breeding tanks on measures of behavior, growth, and reproduction. Zebrafish were socially housed and were either infected, -infected (PNI) ( = 12 tanks), or SPF for (SPF) ( = 24 tanks).

Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Aggression in BALB/cJ and BALB/cByJ Mice Monitored by Using an Automated System.

Aggression among mice remains a common undesirable problem in laboratory settings, and animal welfare and scientific outcomes may become compromised depending on the severity of aggression. This study evaluated the effect of cage enrichment comprising a bilevel, mounted 'mezzanine' compared with a cotton square or shelter on intracage male aggression over a 6-wk period. Our first study involved home-cage behavioral challenges to male mice from a high-aggression substrain (BALB/cJ) and low-aggression substrain (BALB/cByJ).

Effects of Enrichment and Litter Parity on Reproductive Performance and Behavior in BALB/c and 129/Sv Mice.

We examined the effect of adding species-appropriate environmental enrichment items to breeding cages of BALB/cAnNCrl and 129S2/SvPasCrl mice. The 3 enrichment conditions were: 1) cotton nesting material; 2) nesting material plus a paper shelter and rolled paper bedding; and 3) an igloo dome with an exercise wheel in addition to the shelter-group enrichments. We measured litter size, litter survival to weaning age, average pup weight at 21 d, and the interlitter interval to evaluate reproductive performance.