AquacodaWhat if your fish could talk?
AquaCoda helps people document aquatic-animal behaviour and communication through responsible observation and citizen science.
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AquaCoda is currently in Beta
You are using an early version of the platform. Some features are still being improved, and your feedback helps us make AquaCoda clearer, easier and more useful.
With AquaCoda, you can:
Contribute to citizen science
Share observations of aquatic-animal behaviour, sounds and communication.
Help build research datasets
Your contributions may support scientific research and future AI-assisted analysis.
Learn about fish
Discover fish behaviour, communication and welfare.
Two projects, one workflow.
Step 1
Observe responsibly
Watch quietly. Record only spontaneous behaviour under normal husbandry conditions.
Step 2
Record and describe
Capture a short photo, video, or sound clip. Add species, context, and behaviour labels.
Step 3
Share with community or research
Choose to keep it private, share with the community, or contribute to the research dataset.
BettaCoda
What if your fish could talk?
BettaCoda, AquaCoda flagship project, documents Betta fish behaviour and investigates possible sound communication in the Siamese Fighting fish for the first time. BettaCoda Citizen Scientists participate in the discovery of what those sounds could mean for communication.
Heard your Betta fish make a sound?
Share videos and sound recordings to help document possible acoustic signals in Betta splendens.
Record only spontaneous behaviour. Never provoke the fish.
See how a fish behaviour can be documented and shared.
Flaring and surface breathing in a Betta fish
A Betta fish was observed flaring and then rising to the surface to breathe. The behaviour was recorded passively in the home aquarium without deliberately provoking the fish.
- Flaring
- Surface breathing
What can we document?
Video observations can help compare the sequence, duration and context of behaviours across different fish.
Welfare first
Flaring must never be deliberately prolonged or provoked. Surface breathing can be part of normal Betta respiration, but frequent or unusual surface breathing should be considered alongside water quality and other signs of stress.
Read the Animal Welfare GuidelinesAnimal welfare
Record only spontaneous behaviour under normal husbandry conditions. Do not provoke, train, or induce flaring.
Read the Animal Welfare GuidelinesReady to make your first observation?
Document fish behaviour, share your observations and contribute to the AquaCoda citizen-science project.