This robot fish was designed to scare away invasive species


Vincent Touveneau

Cryptocurrencies

December 26, 2021 at 5:40 p.m.

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Robot fish © © Giovanni Polverino

© Giovanni Polverino

In English, it is called ” mosquitofish Because his appetite for mosquitoes has eradicated malaria from many parts of the world. However, its proliferation in global waters causes major environmental problems.

The solution may lie in a larger-than-life robot fish designed in the lab by a team of researchers.

Mosquitofish, an environmental threat

Of course, this ecological problem is of human origin. At the beginning of the 19e century, the means of combating mosquito bites are quite limited, and we are still far from the invention of repellent sprays. It is in this context that the gambusia (Gambusia affinis), a freshwater fish particularly fond of mosquito larvae, has been established in various regions of the world, allowing the elimination of many viruses.

The concern is that this fish’s appetite isn’t just reserved for mosquito larvae, but also tadpoles and eggs of all kinds, including rare species. Its proliferation thus represents a great danger for ecosystems, and has been for more than a century. According to Giovanni Polverino, one of the study’s authors, “ invasive species are the second leading cause of species extinction .

Regulating biodiversity, an ecological emergency

To combat this problem, researchers at New York University and the University of Western Australia came up with the idea of ​​creating an automated machine that takes on the appearance of a pike trout, the main predator of fish. mosquitofishs.

The principle is simple: when a mosquitofish tries to approach larvae, the robot fish detects it and takes action to scare it away. According to research based on five weeks of observation in several aquariums, the results were encouraging. By successfully scaring gambusia, the robot also induces a form of stress in exposed fish, making them more focused on their own preservation and therefore less quick to devour larvae or reproduce.

If the results are promising in the laboratory, this robot fish is not for the moment ” not ready to be released into the wild According to another member of the research team, Maurizio Porfiri. There is therefore no question of stumbling upon cyborg fish on your next fishing trip, but this study may well be on the way to solving a major problem for marine biodiversity.

Source: Cnet



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