(live)small fish specimen holder suggestions?

Just bought that first macro lens? Post here to get helpful feedback and answers to any questions you might have.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

mpan
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:20 pm

(live)small fish specimen holder suggestions?

Post by mpan »

Does anyone have suggestions or know of any techniques to stack live fish/fry. I'd like to get photos a lot closer . I used one last year with decent results, but it was sort of invasive and I felt bad. Although I'm sure the fish didn't feel it as I used tricaine-s to keep it under...and it lived! also, here are the pics, original and edited in LR. Thanks again.Image
Image
Mike

cube-tube
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:50 am
Location: Durham, NC

Post by cube-tube »

In a laboratory setting, fish are embedded in low temperature agarose (https://www.thermofisher.com/order/cata ... t/16520050) for imaging, but it's very expensive.

Maybe you can come up with a similar solution.

mpan
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:20 pm

Post by mpan »

Thanks for the info, I had to look that up. would this keep the fish alive? The reason I'm asking for live specimen is because I'd like to take pics of all the fish larvae/fry in the surrounding bodies of water. Unfortunately, some of the species are protected/endangered. I know it's a stretch to get that access because I'm just a hobbyist but, if I presented an injury/ mortality proof technique it may improve the chances.
Mike

cube-tube
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:50 am
Location: Durham, NC

Post by cube-tube »

Yes it keeps them alive!

It may only work for young fish, though. I'm not sure about large fish.

It melts at a low enough temperature to not hurt the fish, and it is permeable enough to allow them to breathe.

I have a bit of experience using it for live imaging in zebrafish larvae. At that stage they are only ~5mm long, but they are old enough to swim around and hunt for food.

Search "embedding zebrafish in agarose" and you can find many protocols on the topic, all of which are variations on pipetting a fish into a blob of agarose and letting it solidify.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic