In situ three-dimensional video tracking of tagged individuals within site-attached social groups of coral-reef fish

Anael Engel*, Yaela Reuben, Irina Kolesnikov, Dmitri Churilov, Ran Nathan, Amatzia Genin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tracking the movement of all individual group members in their natural environment remains a challenging task. Using advances in computer vision and Deep Learning, we developed and tested a semi-automated in situ tracking system to reconstruct simultaneous three-dimensional trajectories of marked individuals in social groups of a coral-reef fish. Our system has a temporal resolution of 10s of milliseconds, allowing for multiple 30-min tracking sessions that have been repeated over weeks to months. We present the technique and illustrate its application for Dascyllus marginatus, a planktivorous damselfish that lives in social groups associated with branching corals. Our technique identified all individuals 85–100% of the time, with a mean spatial error of ~ 1.3 cm. It provides a cost-effective semi-automated tool for in situ research on movements and foraging of individuals within small site-attached groups of animals in their natural environment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)579-588
Number of pages10
JournalLimnology and Oceanography: Methods
Volume19
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'In situ three-dimensional video tracking of tagged individuals within site-attached social groups of coral-reef fish'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this