Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting

Counting juvenile fish in aquaculture is challenging due to their small, fragile, and often transparent bodies, especially under high-density conditions. To address this, we propose a novel line-labeling annotation method specifically designed for transparent juvenile fish counting, which enhances s...

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Main Authors: Dianzhuo Zhou, Hequn Tan, Yuxiang Li, Yuxuan Deng, Ming Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Smart Agricultural Technology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525001960
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author Dianzhuo Zhou
Hequn Tan
Yuxiang Li
Yuxuan Deng
Ming Zhu
author_facet Dianzhuo Zhou
Hequn Tan
Yuxiang Li
Yuxuan Deng
Ming Zhu
author_sort Dianzhuo Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Counting juvenile fish in aquaculture is challenging due to their small, fragile, and often transparent bodies, especially under high-density conditions. To address this, we propose a novel line-labeling annotation method specifically designed for transparent juvenile fish counting, which enhances supervision quality and provides both positional and morphological cues. We also introduce an improved CSRNet-based convolutional neural network, optimized for high-density fish scenarios. A dataset of 9000 annotated images of Silver Carp and Tilapia, categorized into four density ranges (0–10, 10–20, 20–30 and 30–40 fish/cm²), was used to train and evaluate our method. To determine the optimal approach, four combinations of labeling and image enhancement methods were tested: Point Labeling + Original Image (P + O), Line Labeling + Original Image (L + O), Point Labeling + Image Enhancement (P + I) and Line Labeling + Image Enhancement (L + I). Counting accuracy was assessed using heatmap-based visualizations. Experimental results demonstrate that the line-labeling method significantly improves counting accuracy, achieving 97.73 % for Silver Carp and 98.04 % for Tilapia, outperforming conventional point-based annotations in high-density contexts. This study highlights the potential of structured annotations and tailored network designs for advancing precision in fish counting tasks.
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publishDate 2025-08-01
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spelling doaj-art-b0d8a674582c4d3f998fa4a6ac0460b52025-08-20T01:55:58ZengElsevierSmart Agricultural Technology2772-37552025-08-011110096310.1016/j.atech.2025.100963Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd countingDianzhuo Zhou0Hequn Tan1Yuxiang Li2Yuxuan Deng3Ming Zhu4Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaKey Laboratory of Aquaculture Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Corresponding author at: No.1 Shizishan Street Hongshan District, Wuhan, 430070, China.Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaKey Laboratory of Aquaculture Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaKey Laboratory of Aquaculture Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaCounting juvenile fish in aquaculture is challenging due to their small, fragile, and often transparent bodies, especially under high-density conditions. To address this, we propose a novel line-labeling annotation method specifically designed for transparent juvenile fish counting, which enhances supervision quality and provides both positional and morphological cues. We also introduce an improved CSRNet-based convolutional neural network, optimized for high-density fish scenarios. A dataset of 9000 annotated images of Silver Carp and Tilapia, categorized into four density ranges (0–10, 10–20, 20–30 and 30–40 fish/cm²), was used to train and evaluate our method. To determine the optimal approach, four combinations of labeling and image enhancement methods were tested: Point Labeling + Original Image (P + O), Line Labeling + Original Image (L + O), Point Labeling + Image Enhancement (P + I) and Line Labeling + Image Enhancement (L + I). Counting accuracy was assessed using heatmap-based visualizations. Experimental results demonstrate that the line-labeling method significantly improves counting accuracy, achieving 97.73 % for Silver Carp and 98.04 % for Tilapia, outperforming conventional point-based annotations in high-density contexts. This study highlights the potential of structured annotations and tailored network designs for advancing precision in fish counting tasks.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525001960Juvenile fish countingPoint labelingLine labelingImage enhancementHeatmapFish density
spellingShingle Dianzhuo Zhou
Hequn Tan
Yuxiang Li
Yuxuan Deng
Ming Zhu
Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
Smart Agricultural Technology
Juvenile fish counting
Point labeling
Line labeling
Image enhancement
Heatmap
Fish density
title Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
title_full Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
title_fullStr Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
title_full_unstemmed Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
title_short Line-labelling enhanced CNNs for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
title_sort line labelling enhanced cnns for transparent juvenile fish crowd counting
topic Juvenile fish counting
Point labeling
Line labeling
Image enhancement
Heatmap
Fish density
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525001960
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AT yuxiangli linelabellingenhancedcnnsfortransparentjuvenilefishcrowdcounting
AT yuxuandeng linelabellingenhancedcnnsfortransparentjuvenilefishcrowdcounting
AT mingzhu linelabellingenhancedcnnsfortransparentjuvenilefishcrowdcounting