Regional brain serotonergic activity as an indicator of chronic stress and compromised welfare in fish.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic stress in aquaculture poses major challenges to fish welfare, health, and productivity. Detecting compromised welfare early requires validated biomarkers that link operational welfare indicators (OWIs) to underlying neuroendocrine states, including allostatic load and stress coping capacity. The central serotonergic system is a promising candidate for such validation, given its conserved role in stress regulation across vertebrates.

Methods

We sampled 40 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from research-scale sea cages spanning a wide range of welfare states under production-relevant conditions. Fish were exposed to acute crowding during routine rearing operations immediately prior to sampling. Plasma cortisol was measured, along with serotonin (5-HT) con

SUBMITTER: Sorensen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12932212 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature