GoFish: a foray into open‐source, aquatic behavioral automation

Abstract

As the most species‐rich vertebrate group, fish provide an array of opportunities to investigate the link between ecological interactions and the evolution of behavior and cognition, yet, as an animal model, they are relatively underutilized in studies of comparative cognition. To address this gap, we developed a fully automated platform for behavioral experiments in aquatic species, GoFish. GoFish includes closed‐loop control of task contingencies using real‐time video tracking, presentation of visual stimuli, automatic food reward dispensers, and built‐in data acquisition. The hardware is relatively inexpensive and accessible, and all software components of the platform are open‐source. GoFish facilitates experimental automation, allowing for customization of high‐throughput protocols and the efficient acquisition of rich behavioral data. We hope this platform proves to be a useful tool for the research community, facilitating refined, reproducible behavioral experiments on aquatic species in comparative cognition, behavioral ecology, and neuroscience.