Temperature preference setup

We are at the moment setting up a temperature preference tank based on the same principle as described in Myrick et al. 2004. The goal is to be able to study temperature preferences in different ectothermic animal groups. This will be done in combination with physiological studies of the cardiorespiratory system.

Below is a short description of the system and its components. If you would like to see the setup there is a internetconnected webcamera that shows the same view as the webcamera used to track the animals in the tank.

View the setup

General information about the setup

At the moment the setup have the following features installed

• Circular tank setup according to Myrick et al 2004
• Hardware for heating and cooling the incoming water
  5 kW heater in series with titanium heat exchanger
  5 kW cooling unit with build in titanium heat exchanger
• Modified web-camera for 24 hour tracking (IR-filter removed)
• Tracking software (SwisTrack)
• Hardware and software for light control. Either fixed day lenght or natural daylength cycle both with variable length dimming for natural sunrise and sunset periods
• IR-light for night tracking
• Hardware and software for continous temperature recording down to every 10 seconds
• Software for cross-correlation between the SwisTrack position data and temperature data 
• Hardware and software for multiplexer for water sampling for other types of gradients
   

The circular tank setup

The picture below shows the setup without the cover that normally shields the tank to minimize disturbances.

Light control

This is a combination of software and hardware that allows us to either select a fixed daylength with a selected lenght for sunrise and sunset or to follow that natural daylenght.

Tracking software

We are using a tracking software called SwisTrack developed at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne.

The picture below shows an example of the view and track during daylight and during night with the IR-light on

Output

The results can be analysed in a number of ways, below is an example of the results of a  6 day long test with a short horned sculpin, it shows a simple plot of the number of times the animal had been at a specific temperature. The first two days are conditioning to the setup with no temperature gradient. At day three the temperature gradient was setup and is shown in the picture below the frequency/temperature graph

 Temperature profile during the test looked

References

Circular temperature preference tanks

• Myrick, C. A., Folgner, D. K. and Cech, J. J. (2004). An Annular Chamber for Aquatic Animal Preference Studies, vol. 133, pp. 427-433.
• Chen, S. X., Hong, W. S., Su, Y. Q. and Zhang, Q. Y. (2008). Microhabitat selection in the early juvenile mudskipper <i>Boleophthalmus pectinirostris</i> (L.), vol. 72, pp. 585-593.

Other selected temperature preference studies

• Horner, J. L., Longo, N. and Bitterman, M. E. A Shuttle Box for Fish and a Control Circuit of General Applicability. The American Journal of Psychology Vol. 74, 114-120
• Jobling, M. (1981). Temperature tolerance and the final preferendum&#x2014;rapid methods for the assessment of optimum growth temperatures, vol. 19, pp. 439-455.
• Neill, W. H., Magnuson, J. J. and Chipman, G. G. (1972). Behavioral Thermoregulation by Fishes: A New Experimental Approach, vol. 176, pp. 1443-1445.
• Petersen, M. F. and Steffensen, J. F. (2003). Preferred temperature of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua with different haemoglobin genotypes at normoxia and moderate hypoxia, vol. 206, pp. 359-364.
• Reynolds, W. W. and Casterlin, M. E. (1977). Temperature Preferences of Four Fish Species in an Electronic Thermoregulatory Shuttlebox, vol. 39, pp. 123-125.
• Rising, T. L. and Armitage, K. B. (1969). Acclimation to temperature by the terrestrial gastropods, Limax maximus and Philomycus carolinianus: oxygen consumption an temperature preference. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 30, 1091-1114.
• Sauter, S. T., Crawshaw, L. I. and Maule, A. G. (2001). Behavioral Thermoregulation by Juvenile Spring and Fall Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha, during Smoltification. Environmental Biology of Fishes 61, 295-304.
• Venables, B. J., Fitzpatrick, L. C. and Pearson, W. D. (1978). Laboratory measurement of preferred body temperature of adult largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) Hydrobiologia 58, 33-36.