Liu Xin, Gao Huanan, Hao Aimin, Iseri Yasushi
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biotechnology and Modern Ecological Aquaculture, Guangxi Academy of Marine Sciences, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning 530007, China.
School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture, Hikone 5228533, Japan.
Methods Protoc. 2025 Jun 20;8(4):67. doi: 10.3390/mps8040067.
Understanding the motion behaviors of animals is crucial for unraveling the mechanisms underlying ethology across various domains, such as movement patterns, food detection, and defense strategies. In this study, we devised a simplified method enabling the movement of small animals to be tracked conveniently using high-resolution smartphone videos and freely available tracking software. Employing a laboratory video setup, we traced the swimming trajectory of the small copepod zooplankton , which has a body size of approximately 1 mm. From the tracked position data, we analyzed key motion parameters, including swimming distance, speed, and jump frequency. The results of our video analysis showed that adult female exhibited an average swimming speed of 9.8 mm s, displaying a predominant cruising pattern with speeds of around 5.0 mm s, punctuated by sporadic jumps, showcasing maximum instantaneous speeds reaching a remarkable 190.1 mm s. Our successful tracking of the high-speed swimming copepod not only sheds light on its locomotion dynamics but also underscores the potential to refine this method to study the motion trajectories of diverse animal species.
了解动物的运动行为对于揭示各个领域（如运动模式、食物探测和防御策略）行为学背后的机制至关重要。在本研究中，我们设计了一种简化方法，能够使用高分辨率智能手机视频和免费的跟踪软件方便地跟踪小动物的运动。采用实验室视频设置，我们追踪了体长约1毫米的小型桡足类浮游动物的游泳轨迹。根据跟踪的位置数据，我们分析了关键运动参数，包括游泳距离、速度和跳跃频率。我们的视频分析结果表明，成年雌性的平均游泳速度为9.8毫米/秒，呈现出以约5.0毫米/秒的速度为主的巡航模式，其间穿插着零星的跳跃，最大瞬时速度达到了惊人的190.1毫米/秒。我们成功跟踪高速游泳的桡足类动物，不仅揭示了其运动动力学，还强调了改进该方法以研究不同动物物种运动轨迹的潜力。
