Using Wild I.D. as a Reliable Source for Mark and Recapture Studies on Northern Pike (Esox lucius)

Authors

Martin Evans

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Mark and recapture studies are a very popular method fisheries biologists use to assess certain fish populations in lakes. This process can be very labor intensive and expensive. Wild I.D. is free software developed by Dartmouth College that uses SIFT program to find unique features in photographs. Initially developed for identification of African land mammals the program gives each photo a score and percent match to other photos. Northern pike were used in this study to determine if the program can recognize simulated recapture events. Photos of sample fish were taken at two separate locations, the photos were then copied and cropped four different ways: Original Full, Original Middle, Negative Full, and Negative Middle. The program had a median percent match of 0.84, 0.85, 0.84, and 0.87, respectively. A KruskalWallis test was ran and a non-significant difference was found between the four sample groups (p-value = 0.90). For all 120 of our trials we found that the simulated recapture was the program’s top rated choice for being the best possible match. That gave the program a 100% success rating in choosing the recaptured fish. We are unaware if the software is able to identify a fish once the markings get distorted as the fish grows. Future studies will need to determine if there is any cause for concern about this possibility.

Publication Date

2015

Comments

Faculty sponsor: Dr. Andrew Hafs, Department of Biology, Aquatic Biology Program

Recommended Citation

Evans, Martin, "Using Wild I.D. as a Reliable Source for Mark and Recapture Studies on Northern Pike (Esox lucius)" (2015). Journal of Earth and Life Science. 41.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/j-earth-life-sci/41