Collective behavior and anti-predator escapes of Chromis fish in the wild

Fish collective behavior and predator-prey interactions have mostly been studied in lab environments, which provide simplified and controlled conditions, leading to many important insights. However, lab experiments can also introduce artifacts or fail to capture the full complexity of natural environments. Given the advancements in our understanding of fish behavior and the development of computer vision technology, we believe it is time to conduct more studies in the wild.

Our team collected high-resolution stereo videos collected around Curacao Island in the Caribbean Sea. These videos were taken near coral reefs, where the Chromis fish exhibit various behaviors, including collective anti-predator evasions. Using advanced computer vision and deep learning tools, we develop a pipeline capable of multi-object tracking and 3D trajectory reconstruction of the fish from the videos. This provides an unprecedented dataset, which allows us to study predator-prey interactions and the decision-making processes involved. We also explore the collective behavior of the fish in heterogeneous spaces. Our research offers new insights into both predator-prey dynamics and fish collective behavior in natural settings.