Using the Paralenz for Scientific Research

Lisa - Cleaner fish project

"For my project, aiming to investigate if there is a relationship between time of day and occurrence of cheating behaviour in the common cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, I have been using the Paralenz. I captured 18 minutes of footage of cleaner fish cleaning, as well as cheating, their clients which I will later analyse. I used two different camera set-ups - one single Paralenz on a pole mount and two on a rig which were synced to allow fish size to be calculated. Even at depths of up to 6 metres the camera allows for footage of high clarity for analysis. As my subjects were shallow the DCC colour corrector feature has proved useful as it allows for high quality videos which are not tinted green. The simplicity and compact size of this camera has made filming for long periods of time easy.

Lauren - Hawkfish Project Assistant

“As Fraser’s buddy on the hawkfish project, it was my role to capture photos of individuals which have been “scared” then filmed by Fraser. Once they had fled to a new perch, my job was to move in and take photos of the left side of the fish using the Paralenz, then record the fish’s new substrate and depth. The photos could then be analysed in the lab to identify the individual using their unique freckle pattern, and determine if it has been identified before in previous projects. Fraser can then use this data in his analysis of boldness and mortality. The Paralenz has been really useful for this project – the photos are of high quality which allows for easier analysis, the camera is very simple to use which minimises effort during data collection, and its small design meant I could hold it in one hand and reach into small crevices or between corals and get very close to individuals, and is less cumbersome than other cameras we tried during the pilot study. I also used it on recreational dives and took some great shots!"

Huge thanks to Paralenz for providing us with cameras!