Work

Use of videos to measure dynamic body acceleration as a proxy for metabolic costs in coral reef damselfish (Chromis viridis)

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Quantifying the energy costs of various activities is critical to understand key aspects of animal behavior and ecology. Currently, calorimetry is the most widely used method to measure those costs in laboratory studies, whereas field studies use the doubly labeled water method, heart rate and dynamic body acceleration (DBA). However, these methods are limited or even biased because of restricted space for movement, low temporal resolution and/or the need for logger attachment or implantation. Measuring energy costs of behaviors is difficult, especially in small, highly mobile animals. Here, using a damselfish, Chromis viridis, we demonstrate that DBA, obtained from marker-less, automatic video tracking and 3D reconstruction, can effectively estimate oxygen consumption rate. We show that our video-based DBA method can be used to estimate metabolic costs of various activities, such as locomotion and feeding, on an individual basis.

Source: Journal of Experimental Biology

DOI: 10.1242/jeb.249717

Authors: Kota Ishikawa, Heng Wu, Satoshi Mitarai, Amatzia Genin

Institutions: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat

Language: English

Topic: Physiological and biochemical adaptations

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Awards: G1805399832, G7980027085