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Three groups of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) were fed for seven months, with either a conventional diet or two different organic diets, which contain organic vegetables and a natural antioxidant compound. The two organic diets differed themselves in terms of raw proteins, fish oil, and lipid contents. Sea bass welfare condition was assessed in relation to these three diets, using 16 different indicators. These were: swimming activity (recovery test, muscle activity), haematological and serological stress indicators (haematocrit, haemoglobin, red-blood-cell count, cortisol, glucose, lactate), aspecific immunity parameter (lysozyme), indicators of exposure to organic contaminants (7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase and glutathione-S-transferase), and growth parameters (weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, and hepato-somatic index). Most of these parameters individually did not give consistent responses, but their integration can provide an accurate evaluation of the fish welfare conditions among the three diet experimental groups. The multiparametric approach outlined a comprehensive picture of sea bass physiological state. The principal component analysis and the multi-criteria-decision-analysis were found to be useful tools for an integrated fish welfare assessment, highlighting that the best welfare condition was achieved in the experimental group fed with the protein-rich organic diet.

In the frame of this thesis, we first studied the establishment of personality in teleost, the consistency across context and different life stages as well as the associated physiological mechanisms. Personality appeared consistent across contexts over a short time period but it was no longer the case over a long period of time, especially between different life stages. Physiological mechanisms of stress regulation, as well as activity and neural plasticity, differed according to individual boldness. Then, we studied the physiological and behavioural responses of teleost fish chronically exposed to an environmentally relevant mixture of POP (PCBs and PBDEs), as well as those of their unexposed offspring. Different behavioural alterations in larval photomotor response, boldness and a behavioural syndrome linked to anxiety have been observed between generations up to the F2 or F4 generations. Alterations in the expression of enzymes responsible of DNA methylation were also observed suggesting that epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the transmission of these behavioural alterations in unexposed offspring. Behaviour was also studied under stressful water quality conditions in order to set behavioural welfare indicators. Results showed that individuals cope with these alterations in oxygen levels or NH3 concentration by decreasing their swimming activity and group cohesion. In addition, we observed that the normal thigmotaxis behaviour was inhibited during exposure to degraded water quality. It suggests a hierarchy of behavioural adaptations depending on stress severity. Finally, we studied the behavioural responses to a decrease in oxygen level according to personality: bold individuals decreased their activity and swimming cohesion with greater amplitude than shy individuals which decreased with higher amplitude thigmotaxis behaviour. These abilities to cope with stress, depending on the personality of teleost fish, bring new perspectives to face both ecological and aquaculture issues.; Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons étudié la mise en place de la personnalité, ainsi que sa cohérence en fonction du contexte et des différents stades vie de l’individu et les mécanismes physiologiques associés. La personnalité est apparue cohérente entre les contextes sur de courtes périodes mais ne l’est plus entre les différents stades de vie. Les mécanismes physiologiques de régulation du stress (cortisol et monoamines), ainsi que l’activité et la plasticité neuronale divergent en fonction de l’audace des individus. Ensuite, nous avons étudié les réponses physiologiques et comportementales des téléostéens exposés chroniquement à un mélange de POP (PCB et PBDE), représentatif des conditions environnementales, ainsi que celles de leur descendance non exposée. Des altérations comportementales différentes de la réponse photomotrice larvaire, de l’audace et d’un syndrome comportemental lié à l’anxiété en fonction des générations ont été observées jusqu’à la génération F2 ou F4. Des altérations du niveau d'expression des enzymes responsables de la méthylation de l’ADN ont été également observées suggérant que des mécanismes épigénétiques sont responsables de la transmission de ces altérations chez la descendance. Ensuite, le comportement a été étudié dans des qualités d'eau dégradées afin de mettre en place des indicateurs comportementaux de bien-être pertinents. Les résultats ont montré que suite à la variation de l’oxygénation ou de la teneur en NH3, les individus s’adaptent en diminuant leur activité de nage et la cohésion du groupe. De plus, nous avons observé que le comportement normal de thigmotaxie est inhibé lors de l’exposition à une qualité d’eau dégradée. Cela suggère une hiérarchisation des adaptations comportementales en fonction de la sévérité du stress. Enfin, nous avons étudié les réponses comportementales à une diminution du niveau d’oxygène dans l’eau en fonction de la personnalité : les individus audacieux diminuaient leur activité et leur cohésion de nage avec une plus grande amplitude que les individus timides qui eux diminuaient, avec une plus grande amplitude, le comportement de thigmotaxie. Ces capacités d’adaptation différentes face au stress, en fonction de la personnalité, apportent de nouvelles perspectives pour faire face aux enjeux dans des contextes écologique et aquacole.

Social stress can affect the ability of fish to respond to various stressors, such as pathogens or environmental variations. In this paper, the effects of social stress on gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) were investigated. To study the effects of physiological stress, we evaluated biochemical and cellular parameters, such as cortisol, glucose, lactate, osmolarity, and phagocytosis, 24 h after the establishment of social hierarchy in a group of three fish. Social hierarchy was determined and characterized by behavioral observation (aggressive acts and feeding order) of the specimens (dominant: “α”; subordinate: “β” and “γ”). After the establishment of social hierarchy, we observed that, overall, levels of plasma cortisol and other biochemical plasmatic stress markers (glucose and lactate) were higher in subordinate individuals than in dominant individuals. In addition, the modulation of phagocytic activity of the peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) demonstrated that social stress appeared to affect immune response. Finally, principal component analysis clearly separated the subordinate fish groups from the dominant groups, based on stress markers and the phagocytic activity of peritoneal exudate cells. This study contributes to current knowledge on gilt-head sea bream, helping to understand the link between social stress, behavior, and physiology of this species, relevant in the aquaculture sector, where fish are subjected to several kinds of stress.

Both the conventional and organic aquaculture sectors have grown rapidly over the past few years. Moreover, welfare has attracted increased attention on the part of both consumers and governments. However, fish welfare assessment is complex and thus needs to adapt measurements that are easily applicable to aquaculture conditions. In this study, in addition to classical welfare indicator measurements (physiological stress indicators and growth performance), we recorded the swimming activity data using acoustic transmitters to evaluate the welfare of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fed a conventional vs. an organic diet. Prior feeding trial, the swimming activity recorded by tag has been calibrated with water speed during critical swimming speed (Ucrit) tests. This calibration allowed us to increase the power of the recorded data, providing information on swimming activity with respect to the Ucrit value and on the metabolic cost of swimming. After a four-month experimental period, physiological stress indicators and growth performance did not differ significantly between the two diet groups. However, we observed a subtle difference in swimming activity: the fish in the organic diet group were more active during the feeding period in the morning. All indicators considered, our results suggest that an organic diet does not incur higher metabolic costs and does not affect the welfare of the European sea bass. Moreover, this study shows that the use of acoustic transmitters previously calibrated with physiological indicators, such as Ucrit, is a promising tool for welfare monitoring in aquaculture conditions.

Three groups of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) were fed for seven months, with either a conventional diet or two different organic diets, which contain organic vegetables and a natural antioxidant compound. The two organic diets differed themselves in terms of raw proteins, fish oil, and lipid contents. Sea bass welfare condition was assessed in relation to these three diets, using 16 different indicators. These were: swimming activity (recovery test, muscle activity), haematological and serological stress indicators (haematocrit, haemoglobin, red-blood-cell count, cortisol, glucose, lactate), aspecific immunity parameter (lysozyme), indicators of exposure to organic contaminants (7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase and glutathione-S-transferase), and growth parameters (weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, and hepato-somatic index). Most of these parameters individually did not give consistent responses, but their integration can provide an accurate evaluation of the fish welfare conditions among the three diet experimental groups. The multiparametric approach outlined a comprehensive picture of sea bass physiological state. The principal component analysis and the multi-criteria-decision-analysis were found to be useful tools for an integrated fish welfare assessment, highlighting that the best welfare condition was achieved in the experimental group fed with the protein-rich organic diet.