Abstract Eye tracking has emerged as a key method for understanding how animals process visual information, identifying crucial elements of perception and attention. Traditional fish eye tracking often alters animal behavior due to invasive techniques, while non-invasive methods are limited to either 2D tracking or restricting animals after training. Our study introduces a non-invasive technique for tracking and reconstructing the retinal view of free-swimming fish in a large 3D arena without behavioral training. Using 3D fish bodymeshes reconstructed by DeepShapeKit, our method integrates multiple camera angles, deep learning for 3D fish posture reconstruction, perspective transformation, and eye tracking. We evaluated our approach using data from two fish swimming in a flow tank, captured from two perpendicular viewpoints, and validated its accuracy using human-labeled and synthesized ground truth data. Our analysis of eye movements and retinal view reconstruction within leader-follower schooling behavior reveals that fish exhibit negatively synchronised eye movements and focus on neighbors centered in the retinal view. These findings are consistent with previous studies on schooling fish, providing a further, indirect, validation of our method. Our approach offers new insights into animal attention in naturalistic settings and potentially has broader implications for studying collective behavior and advancing swarm robotics.

Ruiheng Wu

Oliver Deussen

Iain D. Couzin

Liang Li

Communications Biology

COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY 是 NATURE RESEARCH 的开放获取期刊，出版生物科学所有领域的高质量研究、评论和评论。该杂志发表的研究论文代表了重大进展，为专业研究领域带来了新的生物学见解。

Communications Biology is an open-access journal published by NATURE RESEARCH, covering all areas of biological sciences. It publishes high-quality research articles, reviews, and commentaries. The research papers published in this journal represent significant advancements and provide new insights into the field of biology.

《Communications Biology》是NATURE RESEARCH旗下的开放获取期刊，涵盖生物科学各个领域，发表高质量的研究论文、评论和综述。该期刊所刊登的研究成果代表了生物学领域的重要进展，为专业研究提供了新的见解。

Category	Quartile
生物学	1
生物学, 生物学	1

Non-invasive eye tracking and retinal view reconstruction in free swimming schooling fish

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