AQUACULTURE AS A FOLLOWER AND/OR LEADER IN BUILDING AN UNDERSTANDING OF STRESS PHYSIOLOGY IN ANIMALS

An understanding of the impact of stress on animals has evolved since the initial use of the phrase 'General Adaptation Syndrome'.  Models describing the impact of stress in aquaculture have similarly evolved but the terminology of 'primary', 'secondary', and 'tertiary' responses to stress continues to support the conventional wisdom surrounding fish stress in aquaculture.  The paradox of the physiological stress response as being both a necessary adaptation and a source of negative outcomes continues to support integrative research in animal physiology and alter conventional wisdom.  Through a review of the literature, a question prompted by this symposium is addressed. "Has investigation into stress physiology in aquaculture species paralleled that of other animal models?"   The search terms 'Stress Physiology Animals', 'Stress Physiology Animals Fishes' and 'Stress Physiology Animals Aquaculture' were used to examine different pools of research.  The number of annual citations has increased exponentially over time (Figure 1).  Differences in the patterns resulting from the different search phrases may be the result of recent changes to the vernacular used in applied and more general science contexts.   

The frequency of terms used in abstracts of  a sample of research articles can be used to illustrate differences in how 'Stress' is presented by different subsets of scientists  over time.  As might be expected the glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol and corticosterone) were common to literature regardless of the search terms used and different biomarkers appear across time (Figure 2).  Results of these searches will be discussed in illustrating any paradigm shifts over time or differences among subsets of scientists.