Emotions in fish
What is it about?
Whether fish are sentient and capable of suffering, remains highly controversial. In an earlier study it was suggested that emotional fever, a transient stress-induced rise in body temperature, appeared only in these reptiles, birds and mammals in association with the evolution of consciousness. We revisited the question, using zebrafish held in a tank that allowed them to move freely through a gradient of temperatures. Stressed fish spent significantly more time at higher temperatures, dosing themselves up to a 3oC rise in body temperature. Our demonstration that zebrafish do indeed show emotional fever removes a key argument for lack of sentience in fish and has important implications for fish welfare and for the evolution of consciousness in vertebrates.
Why is it important?
Our demonstration that zebrafish do indeed show emotional fever removes a key argument for lack of sentience in fish and has important implications for fish welfare and for the evolution of consciousness in vertebrates.