Tracking zebrafish larvae in group--status and perspectives

Methods. 2013 Aug 15;62(3):292-303. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2013.05.002. Epub 2013 May 24.

Abstract

Video processing is increasingly becoming a standard procedure in zebrafish behavior investigations as it enables higher research throughput and new or better measures. This trend, fostered by the ever increasing performance-to-price ratio of the required recording and processing equipment, should be expected to continue in the foreseeable future, with video-processing based methods permeating more and more experiments and, as a result, expanding the very role of behavioral studies in zebrafish research. To assess whether the routine video tracking of zebrafish larvae directly in the Petri dish is a capability that can be expected in the near future, the key processing concepts are discussed and illustrated on published zebrafish studies when available or other animals when not.

Keywords: Articulated and skeleton models; Frame-to-frame association; Motion; Processing; Representations; Sampling; Tracking; Zebrafish.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology*
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Larva / physiology*
  • Motor Activity / physiology*
  • Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  • Time-Lapse Imaging
  • Video Recording / methods*
  • Video Recording / statistics & numerical data
  • Zebrafish / physiology*