Sobrevivência de lambaris em ambientes enriquecidos

Stress is one of the main problems in fish farming and environmental enrichment is an alternative to reduce it. 144 Lambari (Astyanax altiparanae) Juveniles were agruped in two groups, (control group - without enrichment) and (enriched group -with enrichment), the survival rate of this groups and the behavior during feeding time were evaluated. In the “control group” was observed a low survival rate (30.7%), as well as frequent agonistic interactions, which resulted in cutaneous lesions, cannibalism and mortality (69.3%). Although the “enriched group” presented agonistic interactions, they were less frequent and of lower intensity, promoting a survival rate of 100%. The structural environmental enrichment contributed to fish survival, minimized the agonistic interaction in lambaris, improving animal welfare, being a low cost alternative for laboratory maintenance of the species, and could be used in fish farming.