An experimental system for the automatic tracking and analysis of rotifer swimming behaviour

✍ Scribed by P. Y. Coulon; J. P. Charras; J. L. Chassé; P. Clément; A. Cornillac; A. Luciani; E. Wurdak

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 362 KB
• Volume: 104
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5141
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00045968

✦ Synopsis

An automatic tracking system for rotifer swimming movements is described . The x and y coordinates of the center of gravity of the animal are stored in the computer memory every twelfth of a second .

Computer programs were developed to analyze the data and to calculate the average and the standard deviation for the following parameters per unit of time : distance traveled, turning angles toward the right and toward the left, distance from the point of departure as the crow flies . Histograms are traced by the computer showing the distribution of these values, as well as their evolution with time .

This experimental system is dependable . The first values which we obtained for the swimming speed of rotifers correspond well with those which are given in the literature . The other parameters had not been measured until now .