So far I have some estimates from Lotek, Holohil Systems, and ATS. I would love to hear personal experiences about these and any other company's products.
I'm also curious if anyone has some insight into tracking a species that is known to burrow in mud and how the signal might work...
Thanks :)
pls check the attachment and link given below.
with regards
DR.NIRMALA SVSG
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27010279
You might try Datasciences International (DSI) implantable transmitters. It might be a bit dependent on your application whether this would be the right solution. But they have implantable transmitters for a wide variety of physiological parameters including EEG, ECG, Blood Pressure, Temperature, Glucose, etc.
Metris is exclusive distributor of DSI for Eastern Europe. For the USA you can contact their HQ in Minneapolis directly for further information. Best regards,
Ronald
Have you read papers about monitoring of hellbenders and cinese giants?
Or you need a choice for smaller species?
Yes, I've read the Cryptobranchus and Andrias papers. But I'm more interested in how the transmitters have actually performed in the field which generally isn't mentioned. I can email the authors, just thought someone might have some insight here.
I'll be working on large aquatic species mostly in Florida lentic environments which is very different than the habitat of Cryptobranchids.
Great question! I have many good and bad stories about various devices on small animals, but have come to the conclusion that the traditional methods are not as fool-proof and too expensive compared to what is new and better. And I have a (hopefully great) suggestion: use passive harmonic dipole. These are the same things that avalanche jackets have in them and you would need to buy the whole package (including the transceiver), but the costs might be cheaper than traditional radio tracking depending on how many animals you want to track. Check out the Herp Review article (Herpetological Review, 2011, 42(4), 522–525) by GOURRET and others from Australia (attached) and/or just Google "animal tracking passive harmonic dipole" and see what you get. These devices are smaller than a grain of rice and can be placed on your study animal in a variety of ways, although a thread belt might be best for your sallies. This is so the diode will eventually just fall off and you can find it again - and re-use on another animal. I have a few colleagues who are now swearing by these and can vouch for their effectiveness for small amphibians. Plus, you won't need to surgically implant them - a huge bonus for you and the animals! Please let me know if you have any questions and I can help you with contacts that might be able to give you the best vendors etc. Also, sometimes you can buy old and used avalanche finders from ski resorts and use those for much much cheaper as well. Hope this helps.
I think harmonic radar worth considering if your animals are very small. You might like to read this paper:
Rowley, J.J.L; Alford, R.A.. 2007. Techniques for tracking amphibians: Harmonic radar versus radio telemetry, and the effects of tag attachment. Amphibia-Reptilia. 28. 367-376.
Hi!
I second David's recommendation, I'm working on developing one that works on salamanders. The only problem is that the antenna should not touch the skin of the salamander otherwise it almost stop working, and it also depends how long the salamander spends in water. I can send you a detailed drawing of how to make the harness if you want.
Best,
Amael
Hi,
I've only used externally attached transmitters and harmonic transponders on small terrestrial frogs and they spend little time in the water. From my experience, harmonic transponder signal virtually disappears when the animal is under water so this might be a fundamental flaw for your aquatic salamanders. On the other hand, I had the impression that the signal of small radio transmitters is actually amplified when in shallow water (forest puddles in my case). I had this observations with using Lotek's NTQ2 tags, which are originally designed for the fish but the same could be true in general. I would guess that it also depends on the water depth. From my experience, Lotek's NTQ transmitters are more reliable and less bulky when compared to similar transmitters from Holohil, but they are also significantly more expensive.
I have no experience with implanted transmitters but I know that external attachments can be really to tricky for amphibians as well. I would almost argue that depending on the animal, implanting can some be "less invasive" in a long run than external harness with a long antenna.
Best,
Andrius
I second what Andrius is saying. External transmitters would likely not work for our study animals since there isn't much to keep a harness on and they would catch on thick aquatic vegetation. The animals will also be submerged, potentially in deep water. I will definitely keep harmonic transponders in mind for future projects though. Is the cost roughly equivalent?
The cost is differently distributed. With the harmonic system, it is the transceiver that is expensive but the tags are really cheap to make. The transceiver of the commonly used avalanche rescue system RECCO costs between 1500 - 5500eur depending on the model and the condition. With the radio tracking, you can get a pretty cheap receiver/antenna (though some high quality ones can cost as much as a cheap RECCO), but the per transmitter cost is high.
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