What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to measure body length and swimming speed of golden pompano in various treatment conditions using adaptive resolution imaging sonar.

February 8, 2026Open Access

Measurement of Length and Swimming Speed of Golden Pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) in Offshore Cage Using Adaptive Resolution Imaging Sonar

TLTianyi LiDalian Ocean University MSMingshuai SunMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs YWYan WangDalian Ocean University

Key Points

The aim is to measure body length and swimming speed of golden pompano in various treatment conditions using adaptive resolution imaging sonar.
Utilized adaptive resolution imaging sonar (ARIS) for measurements.
Observed untreated, anesthetized, and injured golden pompano in offshore cages.
Conducted ANOVA for statistical analysis of speed and length measurements.
Measured vertical distribution depths of fish under different conditions.
Relative error in length measurement ranged from -3.24 to 4.35.
No significant difference in swimming speed between untreated and anesthetized groups.
Injured fish exhibited significantly lower swimming speed compared to untreated and anesthetized fish.
Injured fish occupied a greater water depth than untreated conspecifics.

Abstract

Golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) ranks among the most commercially important and high-yield marine finfish species in Chinese mariculture. In response to the requirement for monitoring fish in aquaculture, this study employed Adaptive Resolution Imaging Sonar (ARIS) to observe the body length, swimming speed, and spatial distribution of untreated (GI group), anesthetized (GII group), and injured (GIII group) T. ovatus in a small offshore cage (1.5 × 1.5 × 2.5 m3). The results demonstrated that the relative error range of the length measurement of the T. ovatus spanned from −3.24 to 4.35, and there was no significant difference between the observed and actual body lengths (ANOVA, p > 0.05). We failed to detect a significant difference in the average speed between the untreated group and the anesthetized group (ANOVA, p > 0.05; Tukey’s HSD, p > 0.05). The injured fish exhibited a significantly lower swimming speed compared to untreated and anesthetized individuals (ANOVA, p < 0.01; Tukey’s HSD, p < 0.01). Untreated individuals and fish with physical injuries exhibited mean vertical distribution depths of 1.06 ± 0.47 m and 1.70 ± 0.51 m, respectively, with the injured fish occupying a significantly greater water depth than the untreated conspecifics (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.01). There was a highly significant association between the treatment status of the fish (untreated/injured) and the frequency of water layer distribution (χ2(2) = 196.78, p < 0.01). The findings of the present study can furnish specific methodological references for the imaging sonar-based monitoring of T. ovatus within aquaculture cage systems. Nevertheless, the study is subject to several inherent limitations, including a small sample size for the injured group (n = 3), the employment of an artificial injury model, and the confinement of experimental subjects to a closed cage environment; these factors may introduce statistical uncertainty and thus exert a considerable impact on the external validity of the study’s results.

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