Synchrotron microcomputer tomography for the non-destructive visualization of the fish skeleton

P>The objective of this study was to elucidate the potential of synchrotron radiation-based microcomputer tomography as a non-destructive method to visualize hard tissue in fish with high resolution. The high X-ray contrast between mineralized tissue (bone and teeth) and soft tissue permits an easy differentiation. The nature of this method avoids preparation artefacts which may occur during the preparation for histology or scanning electron microscopy. The spatial resolution is of the order of a few mu m, depending on the sample. Results obtained for the species medaka (Oryzias latipes) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) are presented.