APHIS: A new software for photo-matching in ecological studies

Unique body characteristics are increasingly used for individual recognition to avoid the effort and the potential negative effects of capture-mark-recapture technique. As a consequence there is a growing demand for computer procedures to assist users in photo-recognition of an individual. We present a new software for photo-matching developed to minimize the pre-processing time and maximize the speed of the matching procedure. In APHIS photos can be processed in batches of hundreds and users can select between two alternative matching procedures, one interactive, built as an extension of existing and freely available software, and one automatic. We assessed its performance in terms of individual recognition and time efficiency and illustrate its use with real capture-photo-recapture studies on a reptile and an amphibian species, the Balearic Lizard Podiarcis lilfordi and the Northern spectacled salamander Salamandrina perspicillata, with contrasting skin patterns.