ZF-02 System
for Zebra Fish locomotors activity measurement

The significance of non-traditional animals for evaluation of pharmaceutical products has been continuously increasing since the eighties. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is one of the highlighted species because studies in the fields of molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and neurology indicate that this Indian, carpoid animal is greatly suitable for pharmaceutical investigations.
Complete set-up includes:

• 1 pc stand for camera
• 1 pc digital video recorder camera
• 1 pc tank
• software for data acquisition and analyzing

The significance of non-traditional animals for evaluation of pharmaceutical products has been continuously increasing since the eighties. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is one of the highlighted species because studies in the fields of molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and neurology indicate that this Indian, carpoid animal is greatly suitable for pharmaceutical investigations. Therefore zebra fish became a conventional test animal in the R&D laboratories, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. It has several features, like rapid growth, transparency and large population, which increase its role in the new, in vivo HTS methods. The usage of zebra fish accelerates and makes more efficient the preclinical studies of drug candidates in neuro- and psychopharmacological tests.
The system designed for the study of locomotor activity considers the space and soundings are needed for normal behavior and both of the individual and group dimensions. The movement of the off springs can be clearly tracked in the non-reflectant tank, illuminated with scattered light from the bottom. After a short adaptation period seeds show normal motor activity, there is no sign of stress. The movement of the animals is captured by a camcorder then it is analyzed with the simple, however, efficient SMART software.
Due to the accurate pattern recognition and individual fish marking the calculated length and area data are highly correct. Records can be analyzed between arbitrary time points, movement sensitivity (mm/sec) and control frequency (frame/sec) can be freely selected.

Parameters obtained during graphical and numerical processing:
•    the route of every single fish
•    the length of route of every individual fish
•    the swimming velocity of the studied fish (mm/sec)

Data can be gathered during the tests provide rapid and reliable information for the evaluation of different kind of pharmacological compounds. It could be also an excellent method for basic ethological studies. This technique is capable for the investigation of other fish species besides Danio rerio, moreover for social interaction studies, even of bees living in collectives.