RT Journal Article
T1 Three Non-Invasive Tests Reveal Anxiety-like Responses During Food Anticipation in Rainbow Trout
A1 Barany Ruiz, André
A1 Gómez Boronat, Miguel
A1 Herrera Castillo, Lisbeth Carolina
A1 Delgado Saavedra, María Jesús
A1 Pedro Ormeño, Nuria De
A1 Larrán, Ana M.
A1 Isorna Alonso, Esther
AB Anxiety-like behavior in fish is commonly assessed using non-invasive behavioral paradigms such as the Light/Dark preference, Novel Tank, and Open Field tests. In this study, we validated these three assays in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a species of commercial relevance, to characterize their anxiety-related responses. To explore behavioral changes associated with feeding anticipation and satiety, we implemented a feeding schedule consisting of two daily meals and conducted behavioral tests at specific times before and after feeding. Trout exhibited clear patterns of scototaxis, geotaxis, and thigmotaxis, consistent with anxiety-like behavior described in other teleosts. Our results showed a significant increase in anxiety-like responses before feeding, coinciding with food anticipatory activity observed prior to expected feeding schedules, which diminished after food intake, as evidenced by each test individually. Moreover, multivariate analysis combining parameters from all three tests improved discrimination between anxious and relaxed fish. The behavioral states before and after feeding resembled anxiety-like and anxiolytic conditions reported in other species, supporting that food anticipatory activity reflects an anxious state in rainbow trout as well. These findings endorse using a multi-test behavioral battery to assess anxiety-like states and provide a framework for studying neurobiological mechanisms of emotional regulation related to feeding in teleosts.
PB MDPI
SN 2410-3888
YR 2025
FD 2025-11-05
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/132933
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/132933
LA eng
NO Barany, A.; Gómez-Boronat, M.; Herrera-Castillo, L.; Delgado, M.J.; de Pedro, N.; Larrán, A.M.; Isorna, E. Three Non-Invasive Tests Reveal Anxiety-like Responses During Food Anticipation in Rainbow Trout. Fishes 2025, 10(11), 564. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10110564
NO Funding: This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation PID2022-136288OB-C32 MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to N.d.P. and E.I. L.H.-C. is beneficiary of a pre-doctoral fellow from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid CT63/19-CT64/19. Institutional Review Board Statement: All animal procedures were conducted in accordance with the European Directive 2010/63/EU and the Spanish legislation RD 53/2013 governing the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The protocol was reviewed and approved by the Animal Experimentation Committee of the Agro-Technological Institute of Castilla y León (ITACyL) (approval no. 202406CEEA) on 19 July 2024. No endangered or protected species were used in this study
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 26 feb 2026