Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies.

Over the last decade, employing computer animations for animal behavior research has increased due to its ability to non-invasively manipulate the appearance and behavior of visual stimuli, compared to manipulating live animals. Here, we present the FishSim Animation Toolchain, a software framework developed to provide researchers with an easy-to-use method for implementing 3D computer animations in behavioral experiments with fish. The toolchain offers templates to create virtual 3D stimuli of five different fish species.

The virtual lover: variable and easily guided 3D fish animations as an innovative tool in mate-choice experiments with sailfin mollies-II. Validation.

The use of computer animation in behavioral research is a state-of-the-art method for designing and presenting animated animals to live test animals. The major advantages of computer animations are: (1) the creation of animated animal stimuli with high variability of morphology and even behavior; (2) animated stimuli provide highly standardized, controlled and repeatable testing procedures; and (3) they allow a reduction in the number of live test animals regarding the 3Rs principle. But the use of animated animals should be attended by a thorough validation for each test species to verify that behavior measured with live animals toward virtual animals can also be expected with natural stimuli.

The virtual lover: variable and easily guided 3D fish animations as an innovative tool in mate-choice experiments with sailfin mollies-I. Design and implementation.

Animal behavior researchers often face problems regarding standardization and reproducibility of their experiments. This has led to the partial substitution of live animals with artificial virtual stimuli. In addition to standardization and reproducibility, virtual stimuli open new options for researchers since they are easily changeable in morphology and appearance, and their behavior can be defined.

Technical and conceptual considerations for using animated stimuli in studies of animal behavior.

Rapid technical advances in the field of computer animation (CA) and virtual reality (VR) have opened new avenues in animal behavior research. Animated stimuli are powerful tools as they offer standardization, repeatability, and complete control over the stimulus presented, thereby "reducing" and "replacing" the animals used, and "refining" the experimental design in line with the 3Rs. However, appropriate use of these technologies raises conceptual and technical questions.

Cognitive abilities in Malawi cichlids (Pseudotropheus sp.): matching-to-sample and image/mirror-image discriminations.

The ability to recognize and distinguish between visual stimuli is fundamental for everyday survival of many species. While diverse aspects of cognition, including complex visual discrimination tasks were previously successfully assessed in fish, it remains unknown if fish can learn a matching-to-sample concept using geometrical shapes and discriminate between images and their mirror-image counterparts. For this purpose a total of nine Malawi cichlids (Pseudotropheus sp.