Good management practices and fish welfare in public aquariums: an example with marbled headstander Abramites hypselonotus

Abstract

Good management practices of freshwater fishes comprise activities and guidelines that must be adopted to achieve the welfare of species in public visitation aquariums. Thus, it is expected that fish exhibit behaviors and activities close to or equal to those observed in natural environments. To exemplify how such measures should be adopted, Abramites hypselonotus (Order Characiformes, Family Anostomidae) was chosen as a model organism, a species of ‘piau’ also known commonly as ‘marbled headstander’. Thus, the protocol presented here addresses guidelines on the quarantine period, specification of the dimensions of the exhibition aquarium, water quality control (such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrogen series), health and biosecurity, food, behavior and environmental enrichment. It is worth mentioning that we do not seek to remedy the guidelines on good practices with fish in public aquariums, but rather encourage and disseminate information that can be adopted according to each species or group of fishes. Therefore, we believe that the adoption of good
practices with freshwater fish and more natural behavior in public aquariums is an important opportunity for environmental education and public awareness of environmental conservation, in addition to providing better quality of life for animals.