Other aquatic animals used in research

This page is being used to collect links to resources concerned with other aquatic animals than fish and cephalopods, in particular decapods (crabs and lobsters), amphibians and reptiles. Suggestions for additions are welcome and should be sent to post@norecopa.no.
Some links on Norecopa's webpages on fish may also be relevant.

See also the PREPARE guidelines for planning animal experiments.

The Norwegian Animal Welfare Act protects mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, decapods, cephalopods and honeybees. The Norwegian Regulation on the use of animals in research protects living vertebrates, decapods and cephalopods. EU's Directive 2010/63, on the other hand, only protects vertebrates and cephalopods. 

3R-resources (guidelines, databases, email lists and journals) that apply to aquatic animals may be found in the 3R Guide database:

• guidelines for the care and use of decapods
• guidelines for the care and use of amphibia
• guidelines for the care and use of reptiles

Amphibian Care and Welfare webinar, 25 June 2024

CCAC Guidelines on Amphibians (August 2021)

Review of the evidence of sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans (Birch et al., 2021)

There are concerns about the use of horseshoe crabs for endotoxin testing.

Severity classification of procedures used on fish and other items in the website section on fish may also be of relevance to other aquatic species.

Approved protocols for decapods, cephalopods and fish (Guidance from the Animal Ethics Sub-Committee of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Ethics Committee, South Africa)

Decapods:

• Kasiouras et al. (2024): Putative Nociceptive Responses in a Decapod Crustacean: The Shore Crab (Cancinus maenas)
• Powell et al. (2024): Considerations for implementing regulation of decapods in science
• Code of Practice for the Welfare of Decapod Crustaceans in the Food Chain: From Capture to Killing (Crustacean Compassion, 2023). 
• Rotllant et al. (2023): Methods to Induce Anesthesia and Analgesia in Crustaceans: A Supportive Decision Tool
• de Souza Valente (2022): Anaesthesia of decapod crustaceans
• Conte et al. (2021): Humane Slaughter of Edible Decapod Crustaceans
• Elwood (2021): Potential Pain in Fish and Decapods: Similar Experimental Approaches and Similar Results
• UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Decapod Crustaceans in Captivity
• Approved protocols for decapods, cephalopods and fish (Guidance from the Animal Ethics Sub-Committee of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Ethics Committee, South Africa)
• Humane killing of lobsters (guidance in Norwegian from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority)
• Diggles (2019): Review of some scientific issues related to crustacean welfare. ICES Journal of Marine Science.
• Literature on decapods in the TextBase database
• Electrical stunning of edible crabs (Cancer pagurus): from single experiments to commercial practice (Roth & Grimsbø, 2016)

Amphibians and reptiles:

• Smith et al. (under peer review, 2025): Validating the underpinnings of water corticosterone measurement for aquatic amphibians
• Kruuse et al. (2024): Sedation and general anaesthesia of crocodilians: a systematic review
• Volume 22 no. 1 (April 2023) of the journal Animal Technology and Welfare focuses on the African Clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)
• Stathopoulou et al. (2022) A Protocol for Prolonged Surgical Anaesthesia with Recovery in Fire Salamanders Using Tricaine Mesylate (MS-222): A Case Series
• Guidance on the housing and care of the African clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis), produced by the RSPCA
• O'Rourke et al. (2018): Nontraditional Laboratory Animal Species (Cephalopods, Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds) - health and safety issues
• Kousthuban et al. (2008): Establishing and Maintaining a Xenopus lævis Colony for Research Laboratories
• Mitchell, M. A. (2009). Anesthetic considerations for amphibians. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, 18(1), 40-49.
• Monitoring environmental factors using measurement of heartrate and shell closure rates in marine invertebrates (IRIS, Stavanger)
• Blood mixtures: impact of puncture site on blood parameters
• Black or white? The effect of tank background on the welfare of laboratory frogs (Xenopus laevis)
• Pain and analgelsia in birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish (Stoskopf, 1994)
• Uses and doses of local anesthetics in fish, amphibians and reptiles (Chatigny et al., 2017)
• Fish, amphibian and reptile anesthesia (Machin, 2001)
• Efficacy of Tricaine Methanesulfonate (MS-222) as an Anesthetic Agent for Blocking Sensory-Motor Responses in Xenopus laevis tadpoles (2014)
• Literature on amphibians and on reptiles
• Discussing the future of amphibians in research (description of a workshop in London in October 2017 - full report here)
• XenCare (Xenopus husbandry discussion forum)

Other invertebrates (see the separate section on cephalopods):

• A. Rowe, 2018. Should Scientific Research Involving Decapod Crustaceans Require Ethical Review (This is currently the case in Norway and some other countries)
• Spineless wonders: welfare and use of invertebrates in the laboratory and classroom. Theme number of the ILAR Journal, volume 52, issue 2, 2011, including papers on Anesthesia, Analgesia and Euthanasia of Invertebrates, and Pain and Suffering in Invertebrates?

Other relevant papers on pain perception, anaesthesia and analgesia:

• Special issue of Biology on "Anaesthetics and Analgesics Used in Aquatic Species" (2023)
• Defining and assessing animal pain (Sneddon LU et al., 2014) 
• Pain in aquatic animals (Sneddon LU, 2015)
• Clinical anesthesia and analgesia in invertebrates (Lewbart GA & Mosley C, 2012) 
• Testing and comparison of non-opioid analgesics in amphibians (Stevens CW et al., 2001)
• Analgesic efficacy and respiratory effects of butorphanol and morphine in turtles (Sladky KK et al., 2007)
• Resources about pain and suffering, and anaesthesia and analgesia in fish

Training courses:

• Training Courses run by Charles River
• General training courses, meetings calendar and past meetings

 An overview of animals used in research from Understanding Animal Research (UAR)