Overview
My research interests encompass the field of evidence-based fish welfare. I am interested in how social and physical environments, husbandry, and management protocols affect the behaviour and welfare of fish in research laboratories. My goal is to use evidence-based research to better understand how to provide for captive fish within our care.
Overall, my wider research interests include fish cognition and social behaviour within and between species. I’m also interested in the natural history of fish and how knowledge of a species’ natural environment, abundance, distribution, densities, social conditions, and limiting resources can be used to design laboratory experiments to test specific hypotheses and address questions about the effects of the laboratory environment in fish.
Reviews: I review manuscripts for the Journal of Fish Biology, Behavioural Processes, and the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE).
Memberships: I am a member of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, and the Royal Society of Biology.
Qualifications
2017 MPhil Biological Sciences, University of Exeter
2014 BSc (Hons) Biology and Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter
Research
Research interests
Current research
My current research investigates the effects of the social and physical environment on welfare of laboratory zebrafish. I am investigating measures of behaviour and levels of activity that indicate wellbeing in zebrafish; the effects of tank size, shape, and stocking density on aggression and affiliative behaviour; how husbandry practices affect stress in zebrafish; and whether simple changes in the tank or social environment (e.g. tank/water changes) can provide positive stimulation for laboratory fish. I am also developing a computer model for the welfare assessment of zebrafish. The model will use weighted factors of attributes such as housing conditions, physiology, health, etc., based on collated scientific data, to assess the welfare status of the animals and produce a welfare score as output. My work to date suggests that significant welfare benefits may be achieved through simple and practicably changes to current practise in the housing and maintenance of zebrafish in research laboratories. Improved welfare will mean that zebrafish function more optimally, with likely improved reliability of research data, and help reduce both the number of fish required for each experiment and the likelihood of needing to repeat experiments. This research contributes directly to the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) by reducing the number of experimental fish required and by refining animal welfare.
Previous research
The effects of environmental enrichment and environmental stability on the welfare of laboratory zebrafish
During my MPhil degree I showed that environmental enrichment, in the form of gravel and plants, affected survivorship, growth, body condition and behaviour in laboratory-maintained zebrafish. Larvae in enriched tanks had higher survivorship than larvae in plain tanks. Fish reared in enriched tanks were shorter than fish reared in plain tanks at 60 days post-fertilisation. Females in enriched tanks had higher body condition than females in plain tanks and body condition was more variable in males in plain tanks than in enriched tanks. Fish from enriched tanks also displayed lower levels of anxiety than fish from plain tanks when placed in a novel environment, and resource monopolisation was higher for enriched fish than for plain fish. Data generated by this study enhanced understanding of what environmental conditions improve housing for laboratory zebrafish.
Effects of environmental complexity on the behaviour of laboratory-maintained zebrafish
My undergraduate research asked whether zebrafish raised in different environments differ in behaviour and whether the behavioural phenotypes of zebrafish are fixed. To address these questions, shoals of zebrafish were raised in ‘plain’ and ‘enriched’ environments and activity and aggression compared. Shoals were then transferred from plain to enriched environments and vice versa, and activity and aggression compared with levels before the transfer. No differences in activity were found between fish reared in plain tanks and those reared in enriched tanks and activity levels did not change when the environment changed. Changing the environment did, however, increase aggressiveness in fish moved from enriched tanks to plain ones. These results suggest that the behaviour of zebrafish is not affected by the environment in which they are raised and that behavioural phenotypes are not fixed.
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Lee CJ, Paull GC, Tyler CR (2022). Improving zebrafish laboratory welfare and scientific research through understanding their natural history.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc,
97(3), 1038-1056.
Abstract:
Improving zebrafish laboratory welfare and scientific research through understanding their natural history.
Globally, millions of zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used for scientific laboratory experiments for which researchers have a duty of care, with legal obligations to consider their welfare. Considering the growing use of the zebrafish as a vertebrate model for addressing a diverse range of scientific questions, optimising their laboratory conditions is of major importance for both welfare and improving scientific research. However, most guidelines for the care and breeding of zebrafish for research are concerned primarily with maximising production and minimising costs and pay little attention to the effects on welfare of the environments in which the fish are maintained, or how those conditions affect their scientific research. Here we review the physical and social conditions in which laboratory zebrafish are kept, identifying and drawing attention to factors likely to affect their welfare and experimental science. We also identify a fundamental lack knowledge of how zebrafish interact with many biotic and abiotic features in their natural environment to support ways to optimise zebrafish health and well-being in the laboratory, and in turn the quality of scientific data produced. We advocate that the conditions under which zebrafish are maintained need to become a more integral part of research and that we understand more fully how they influence experimental outcome and in turn interpretations of the data generated.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Lee CJ, Paull GC, Tyler CR (2019). Effects of environmental enrichment on survivorship, growth, sex ratio and behaviour in laboratory maintained zebrafish Danio rerio.
J Fish Biol,
94(1), 86-95.
Abstract:
Effects of environmental enrichment on survivorship, growth, sex ratio and behaviour in laboratory maintained zebrafish Danio rerio.
Environmental enrichment involves increasing the complexity of a fish's environment in order to improve welfare. Researchers are legally obliged to consider the welfare of laboratory animals and poor welfare may result in less robust data in experimental science. Laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio are usually kept in bare aquaria for ease of husbandry and, despite being a well-studied species, little is known about how laboratory housing affects their welfare. This study shows that environmental enrichment, in the form of the addition of gravel substratum and plants into the tank, affects survivorship, growth and behaviour in laboratory-maintained D. rerio. Larvae reared in enriched tanks had significantly higher survivorship compared with larvae reared in bare tanks. Effects of the tank conditions on growth were more variable. Females from enriched tanks had a higher body condition than females maintained in bare tanks, but intriguingly this was not the case for males, where the only difference was a more variable body condition in males maintained in bare tanks. Sex ratio in the rearing tanks did not differ between treatments. Resource monopolisation was higher for fish in enriched tanks than for those in bare tanks. Fish from enriched tanks displayed lower levels of behaviours associated with anxiety compared with fish from bare tanks when placed into a novel environment. Thus, this study demonstrates differences in welfare for D. rerio maintained under different environmental conditions with enhancements in welfare more commonly associated with tank enrichment.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Lee CJ, Tyler CR, Paull GC (2018). Can simple tank changes benefit the welfare of laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio?.
J Fish Biol,
92(3), 653-659.
Abstract:
Can simple tank changes benefit the welfare of laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio?
This study examined the effects of simple changes in the tank environment on the wellbeing of laboratory-maintained zebrafish Danio rerio. Groups of D. rerio were either housed in stable environments (where they were maintained in the same tanks throughout the study) or in environments subject to change (where they were periodically moved to novel but identical tanks) and the effects of these treatments on morphometry, reproductive success and aggressive behaviour assessed. No effect of simple tank changes was found on body condition, reproductive output or aggression, for the periods of time studied, indicating that more complex scenarios in housing tank conditions are required for significant welfare benefits for captive D. rerio.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Chapters
Lee C, Tyler C, Paull G (2019). Behaviour of wild populations. In Cartner S, Eisen J, Farmer S, Guillemin K, Kent M, Sanders G (Eds.) The Zebrafish in Biomedical Research, Academic Press.
Lee CJ, Tyler CR, Paull GC (2019). Geographic range and natural distribution. In Cartner S, Eisen J, Farmer S, Guillemin K, Kent M, Sanders G (Eds.) The Zebrafish in Biomedical Research, Academic Press.
Publications by year
2022
Lee CJ, Paull GC, Tyler CR (2022). Improving zebrafish laboratory welfare and scientific research through understanding their natural history.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc,
97(3), 1038-1056.
Abstract:
Improving zebrafish laboratory welfare and scientific research through understanding their natural history.
Globally, millions of zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used for scientific laboratory experiments for which researchers have a duty of care, with legal obligations to consider their welfare. Considering the growing use of the zebrafish as a vertebrate model for addressing a diverse range of scientific questions, optimising their laboratory conditions is of major importance for both welfare and improving scientific research. However, most guidelines for the care and breeding of zebrafish for research are concerned primarily with maximising production and minimising costs and pay little attention to the effects on welfare of the environments in which the fish are maintained, or how those conditions affect their scientific research. Here we review the physical and social conditions in which laboratory zebrafish are kept, identifying and drawing attention to factors likely to affect their welfare and experimental science. We also identify a fundamental lack knowledge of how zebrafish interact with many biotic and abiotic features in their natural environment to support ways to optimise zebrafish health and well-being in the laboratory, and in turn the quality of scientific data produced. We advocate that the conditions under which zebrafish are maintained need to become a more integral part of research and that we understand more fully how they influence experimental outcome and in turn interpretations of the data generated.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2019
Lee C, Tyler C, Paull G (2019). Behaviour of wild populations. In Cartner S, Eisen J, Farmer S, Guillemin K, Kent M, Sanders G (Eds.) The Zebrafish in Biomedical Research, Academic Press.
Lee CJ, Paull GC, Tyler CR (2019). Effects of environmental enrichment on survivorship, growth, sex ratio and behaviour in laboratory maintained zebrafish Danio rerio.
J Fish Biol,
94(1), 86-95.
Abstract:
Effects of environmental enrichment on survivorship, growth, sex ratio and behaviour in laboratory maintained zebrafish Danio rerio.
Environmental enrichment involves increasing the complexity of a fish's environment in order to improve welfare. Researchers are legally obliged to consider the welfare of laboratory animals and poor welfare may result in less robust data in experimental science. Laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio are usually kept in bare aquaria for ease of husbandry and, despite being a well-studied species, little is known about how laboratory housing affects their welfare. This study shows that environmental enrichment, in the form of the addition of gravel substratum and plants into the tank, affects survivorship, growth and behaviour in laboratory-maintained D. rerio. Larvae reared in enriched tanks had significantly higher survivorship compared with larvae reared in bare tanks. Effects of the tank conditions on growth were more variable. Females from enriched tanks had a higher body condition than females maintained in bare tanks, but intriguingly this was not the case for males, where the only difference was a more variable body condition in males maintained in bare tanks. Sex ratio in the rearing tanks did not differ between treatments. Resource monopolisation was higher for fish in enriched tanks than for those in bare tanks. Fish from enriched tanks displayed lower levels of behaviours associated with anxiety compared with fish from bare tanks when placed into a novel environment. Thus, this study demonstrates differences in welfare for D. rerio maintained under different environmental conditions with enhancements in welfare more commonly associated with tank enrichment.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Lee CJ, Tyler CR, Paull GC (2019). Geographic range and natural distribution. In Cartner S, Eisen J, Farmer S, Guillemin K, Kent M, Sanders G (Eds.) The Zebrafish in Biomedical Research, Academic Press.
2018
Lee CJ, Tyler CR, Paull GC (2018). Can simple tank changes benefit the welfare of laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio?.
J Fish Biol,
92(3), 653-659.
Abstract:
Can simple tank changes benefit the welfare of laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio?
This study examined the effects of simple changes in the tank environment on the wellbeing of laboratory-maintained zebrafish Danio rerio. Groups of D. rerio were either housed in stable environments (where they were maintained in the same tanks throughout the study) or in environments subject to change (where they were periodically moved to novel but identical tanks) and the effects of these treatments on morphometry, reproductive success and aggressive behaviour assessed. No effect of simple tank changes was found on body condition, reproductive output or aggression, for the periods of time studied, indicating that more complex scenarios in housing tank conditions are required for significant welfare benefits for captive D. rerio.
Abstract.
Author URL.
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