About AquaCoda
AquaCoda is a citizen-science platform for documenting and understanding aquatic-animal behaviour and communication.
By combining responsible observation, shared datasets and scientific research, AquaCoda aims to reveal patterns that may otherwise remain unnoticed.
What AquaCoda does
Observe
Help people document spontaneous aquatic-animal behaviour.
Share
Bring together observations from fish keepers and citizen scientists.
Compare
Create structured datasets that make behavioural patterns easier to identify.
Investigate
Support scientific research and future AI-assisted analysis.
Why observations matter
A single observation may be difficult to interpret. Combining observations from many animals, species and environments can help reveal recurring patterns in behaviour and communication.
Participants help build a shared citizen-science record that may support future research.
BettaCoda: our flagship project
BettaCoda focuses on documenting Betta fish behaviour and investigating possible sound communication through passive, non-invasive observation.
Video and sound recordings may help identify recurring behavioural and acoustic patterns in Betta splendens.
Citizen science
Fish keepers can contribute careful observations that would be difficult for one research team to collect alone.
Shared datasets
Structured observations make it possible to compare species, behaviours, environments and possible communication signals.
Every observation adds a new piece to the collective picture.
From observations to future AI research
AquaCoda's long-term ambition is to support AI-assisted tools that may help identify and compare aquatic-animal behaviour and communication patterns.
These tools remain a research objective and must be developed carefully, with scientific review and explicit participant consent.
Animal welfare comes first
Observations must document spontaneous behaviour under normal husbandry conditions. Animals must never be provoked, stressed or placed at risk to obtain media.
- Record spontaneous behaviour
- Do not provoke aggression
- Do not use forced encounters
- Stop recording if the animal shows signs of stress
Our values
Welfare
The animal's wellbeing always takes priority.
Scientific care
Preliminary observations are clearly distinguished from confirmed evidence.
Transparency
Participants choose how their observations may be shared and used.
Collaboration
Collective observation can help generate new research questions.
Take part in AquaCoda
Observe responsibly, share what you discover and contribute to a growing citizen-science project.