Behavioral responses of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) to acute fluctuations in dissolved oxygen levels as monitored by computer vision

Behavioral and ventilatory parameters have the possibility of predicting the stress state of fish in vivo and in situ. This paper presents a new image-processing algorithm for quantifying the average swimming speed of a fish school in an aquarium. This method is based on the alteration in projected area caused by the movement of individual fish during frame sequences captured at given time intervals. The image enhancement method increases the contrast between fish and background, and is thus suitable for use in turbid aquaculture water. Behavioral parameters (swimming activity and distribution parameters) and changes in ventilation frequency (VF) of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) responded to acute fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO) which were monitored continuously in the course of normoxia, falling DO level, maintenance of hypoxia (three levels of 1.5, 0.8 and 0.3 mg l−1) and subsequent recovery to normoxia. These parameters responded sensitively to acute variations in DO level; they displayed significant changes (P < 0.05) during severe hypoxia (0.8 and 0.3 mg l−1 level) compared with normoxic condition, but there was no significant difference under conditions of mild hypoxia (1.5 mg l−1 level). There was no significant difference in VF between two levels of severe hypoxia 0.8 and 0.3 mg l−1 level during the low DO condition. The activity and distribution parameters displayed distinguishable differences between the 0.8 and 0.3 mg l−1 levels. The behavioral parameters are thus capable of distinguishing between different degrees of severe hypoxia, though there were relatively large fluctuations.