BettaCoda
AquaCoda's flagship project.
Documenting Betta fish behaviour and investigating possible sound communication through responsible citizen science.
Shared observations can help build datasets for research and future AI-assisted analysis.
What is BettaCoda?
BettaCoda is a citizen-science project dedicated to documenting the behaviour and communication of Betta splendens.
It brings together videos, sound recordings and behavioural observations contributed by fish keepers and observers.
Can Betta fish communicate with sound?
Preliminary observations suggest that some Betta fish may produce sounds in specific behavioural contexts.
BettaCoda collects passive video and sound recordings so these events can be compared and investigated.
Bubble nesting
A Betta fish creating bubbles at the water surface as part of bubble-nest-building behaviour.
How to contribute
Step 1
Observe
Document spontaneous behaviour under normal husbandry conditions.
Step 2
Record
Capture a photo, video or sound recording without disturbing the fish.
Step 3
Share
Choose whether the observation remains private, appears in Community or contributes to Research.
Why your observations matter
Individual observations can be difficult to interpret. By combining observations from many Betta fish, BettaCoda may help identify recurring behavioural and acoustic patterns.
These structured datasets may support scientific research and future AI-assisted analysis.
Every careful observation adds to the dataset.
From citizen science to future AI research
AquaCoda's long-term ambition is to develop AI-assisted tools that may help identify and compare patterns in aquatic-animal behaviour and communication.
These tools are still a research objective and must be interpreted with scientific care.
Learn about Research and AIWelfare comes first
Record only spontaneous behaviour under normal husbandry conditions.
- Do not use mirrors to provoke flaring
- Do not force encounters between fish
- Do not disturb essential aquarium conditions
- Stop recording if the fish shows signs of stress
Listening to the Siamese Fighting Fish
Read the preliminary BettaCoda observations and the passive recording approach used to document possible sound production.
A shared project
BettaCoda brings together fish keepers, citizen scientists and researchers interested in Betta behaviour and communication.
Help document Betta behaviour and communication
Observe responsibly, share what you discover and contribute to the BettaCoda citizen-science project.