Light / Dark Tank

The Light-Dark preference test offers a complementary measure for assessing anxiety-related behavior in Fish. This test is often used while investigating the effects of anxiogenic and anxiolytic drugs on modulating normal behaviors in Fish. For the experimental set-up, the fish are placed in a tank with two equally sized, black-painted and white-painted vertical portions. Since the fish naturally prefer dark environments (scototaxis) to bright ones, the Light-Dark test allows for monitoring the effects of chemical stressors on fish behavior whilst exposed to the different light environments.

Higher levels of anxiety in the Fish are displayed as increased frequency of erratic movements, reduced exploratory behavior, thigmotaxis and geotaxis in either or both portions of the tank. The Fish Light-Dark test is a quick, simple and effective method for performing toxicology studies, drug screening and identifying disease biomarkers. Parameters that are frequently monitored during the Light-Dark test include total distance travelled, velocity, distance travelled within the light and dark sections of the tank, transitions between sections and swim pattern (turning angle).

Analysing Light-Dark test fish experiments using Actual products is easy, and ActualTrack: Fish Edition is designed specifically for analysing Fish locomotion and anxiety-related behavior. A fish in the Light-Dark test set-up is monitored with a video camera mounted above the experimental tank and is connected to a computer to record a video file. ActualTrack: Fish Edition software analyses the video file and utilises three-point fish tracking (head, centre of mass, and end of tail) to identify the fish within the tank and determine its position. Using ActualTrack: Fish Edition you can define regions for the light and dark sections and accurately and automatically monitor entry of the fish to regions based on the location of its head, centre of mass, and end of tail (or any combination thereof). With ActualTrack: Fish Edition, locomotor activity within the Light-Dark fish experiments is also easily assessed and quantified in any user-defined region within the tank.

What you need to perform Fish Light-Dark experiments using ActualTrack: Fish Edition:

- Digital Camera: from standard digital video camera to professional digital High Definition cameras (to enhance resolution of very small fish or large tanks) ActualTrack: Fish Edition can work with almost any common video format. See our recommended camera list for the most appropriate camera for your set-up.

- ActualCapture Software (optional) - enables easy direct recording of your experiment to a digital video file. This is recommended when you do not already have a camera and recording software. If you would like us to arrange and supply recording set-up, please contact us.

- Lighting: diffuse lighting from directly above or below,or infrared (IR) lighting for recording during the dark.

- Adult Fish and Light- Dark fish Tank

- A computer with a web browser and web access (see requirements for details).

- ActualTrack: Fish Edition software

Our tracking, scoring and video capture software can be easily optimised to a broad range of hardware and experimental set-ups to ensure the best possible conditions for your video analysis. If required, please contact us for recommendations and a list of preferred suppliers of hardware.

What you can analyse in a Fish Light-Dark test using ActualTrack: Fish Edition:

- Locomotor results: Distance travelled (cm), Average Speed (cm / s), Locomotor results for each zone (light and dark) defined for the fish tank. Angular velocity and fish swim path.

- Zone results based on fish location within the light and dark sections of the tank: Time spent in each zone [s], Time spent in each zone [%], Latency to each first zone entry [s], Number of visits to each zone [n], Number of visits to each zone [%], First zone visited, Zone transitions & timings, Average time spent per visit to each zone, Angular velocity and fish swim path.

- Visualisations: Birds nest plot, heat map

- ActualScore functionality allows for integrated manual coding user defined behaviors

- All results are calculated automatically and provided in an easy to use CSV format which can be imported in to most statistical analysis packages for further investigation and graphical representation

- and much more...

For more information, see the product information, or get in touch to find out more about how ActualTrack: Fish Edition could help you achieve the results you need.