Pain and suffering in fish

See also references for zebrafish, which may well be relevant to other fish species.

Scientists have been discussing nociception and the experience of pain and suffering in fish for many years. This pages has a collection of links to relevant papers. Suggestions for additions are welcome and may be sent to this email address.

Please also see links to guidance on:

• Anaesthesia and analgesia in general and in fish
• Humane endpoints
• Health monitoring & disease prevention
• Severity classification (including in fish)
• Welfare
  
  
• Diggles et al. (2023): Reasons to be Skeptical about Sentience and Pain in Fishes and Aquatic Invertebrates Reviews in Fisheries Science and Aquaculture.
• Elwood (2021): Potential Pain in Fish and Decapods: Similar Experimental Approaches and Similar Results Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
• Thomson et al. (2020): Acute and chronic stress prevents responses to pain in zebrafish: evidence for stress-induced analgesia. Journal of Experimental Biology.
• Vettese et al. (2020): The Great Fish Pain Debate. Issues in Science and Technology.
• Browman et al. (2019): Welfare of aquatic animals: where things are, where they are going, and what it means for research, aquaculture, recreational angling, and commercial fishing. ICES Journal of Marine Science.
• Diggles (2019): Review of some scientific issues related to crustacean welfare. ICES Journal of Marine Science.
• Sneddon (2019): Evolution of nociception and pain: evidence from fish models. 374 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B.
• Lopez-Luna et al. (2017): Impact of stress, fear and anxiety on the nociceptive responses of larval zebrafish. PLOS ONE.
• Vindas et al., (2017): How do individuals cope with stress? Behavioural, physiological and neuronal differences between proactive and reactive coping styles in fish. Journal of Experimental Biology.
• Bert et al. (2016): Considerations for a European animal welfare standard to evaluate adverse phenotypes in teleost fish The EMBO Journal.
• Sneddon (2015): Pain in aquatic animals. Journal of Experimental Biology.
• Buckland-Nicks et al. (2011): Neural network detected in a presumed vestigial trait: ultrastructure of the salmonid adipose fin. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
• Roques et al. (2010): Tailfin clipping, a painful procedure: studies on Nile tilapia and common carp. Physiology and Behavior.
• Sneddon (2009): Pain Perception in Fish: Indicators and Endpoints. ILAR Journal.
• Sverdrup (2005) Neurophysiology in relation to pain (meeting presentation)
• Chandroo et al. (2004) An evaluation of current perspectives on consciousness and pain in fishes. Fish and Fisheries.
• Sneddon (2004) Evolution of nociception in vertebrates: comparative analysis of lower vertebrates. Brain Research Reviews.
• Chervova & Lapskin (2004): Pain sensitivity of fishes and analgesia induced by opioid and nonopioid agents. Proceedings of the Fourth International Iran and Russia Conference.
• Sneddon, Braithwaite & Gentle (2003): Do fishes have nociceptors? Evidence for the evolution of a vertebrate sensory system. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. Critique of this paper by James Rose.
• Sneddon (2003): Trigeminal somatosensory innervation of the head of a teleost fish with particular reference to nociception. Brain Research. 
• Sneddon (2003): The evidence for pain in fish: the use of morpine as an analgesic. Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
• Sneddon, Braithwaite & Gentle (2003): Novel object test: examining nociception and fear in the rainbow trout. The Journal of Pain.
• Sneddon (2002): Anatomical and electrophysiological analysis of the trigeminal nerve in a teleost fish, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Neuroscience letters. 
• Rose (2002): The neurobehavioral nature of fishes and the question of awareness and pain.  Reviews in Fisheries Science.

Opinion pieces in the Guardian newspaper:

There is ample evidence that fish feel pain (Lynne Sneddon, 2021)

Can fish feel pain? The jury is still out (Alan Roberts, 2021)

Are we wrong to assume that fish can't feel pain? (Carl Safina, 2018)