title: Video tracking in the extreme: a new possibility for tracking nocturnal underwater transparent animals with fluorescent elastomer tags.
abstract: Initially developed so that an individual could be recognized in mark-recapture studies of aquatic animals, fluorescent visible implant elastomer (VIE) tags are used here for a new application in ethometry: the study of the behavior of transparent animals in dim light or in darkness using automatic tracking technology. The application and validation of this multitracking method is tested in the context of research on the estuarine migratory behavior of the glass eel (Anguilla anguilla), a crucial point to better understand the dynamics of this endangered species. The method makes it possible to measure the activity (notably the distance and speed) of four individuals as a function of tidal and nycthemeral rhythms in the same flume (a circular aquarium simulating river or estuarine conditions) across a wide time scale (from seconds to weeks).
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Department of Environmental Sciences and Management, University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020, Liège, Belgium. Johann.Delcourt@ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delcourt
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ylieff
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bolliet
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poncin
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bardonnet
mesh_terms: D000811:Anguilla; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D020724:Elastomers; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014741:Video Recording / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D020724:Elastomers; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes