Effects of handling and short-term captivity: a multi-behaviour approach using red sea urchins, Mesocentrotus franciscanus

PeerJ

article

Aneesh P.H. Bose¹  Daniel Zayonc²  Nikolaos Avrantinis²  Natasha Ficzycz²  Jonathan Fischer-Rush²  Fiona T. Francis³  Siobhan Gray²  Faye Manning²  Haley Robb²  Coralee Schmidt²  Christine Spice²  Aari Umedaly²  Jeff Warden²  Isabelle M. Côté³ 

[1] Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology;Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre;Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University

关键词: Invertebrate;    Reintroduction;    Relocation;    Echinoderm;    Stress;    Animal welfare;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6556

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Understanding the effects of captivity-induced stress on wild-caught animals after their release back into the wild is critical for the long-term success of relocation and reintroduction programs. To date, most of the research on captivity stress has focused on vertebrates, with far less attention paid to invertebrates. Here, we examine the effect of short-term captivity (i.e., up to four days) on self-righting, aggregation, and predator-escape behaviours in wild-caught red sea urchins, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, after their release back into the wild. Aggregation behaviour, which has been linked to feeding in sea urchins, was not affected by handling or captivity. In contrast, the sea urchins that had been handled and released immediately, as well as those that were handled and held captive, took longer to right themselves and were poorer at fleeing from predators than wild, unhandled sea urchins. These results indicate that handling rather than captivity impaired these behaviours in the short term. The duration of captivity did not influence the sea urchin behaviours examined. Longer-term monitoring is needed to establish what the fitness consequences of these short-term behavioural changes might be. Our study nevertheless highlights the importance of considering a suite of responses when examining the effects of capture and captivity. Our findings, which are based on a locally abundant species, can inform translocation efforts aimed at bolstering populations of ecologically similar but depleted invertebrate species to retain or restore important ecosystem functions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY