Meeting Abstract
Male mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) have sexual dimorphic skeletal characteristics that are establish during development: namely enlarged hemal spines and an anal fin elongated into a gonopodium. Enlarged hemal spines serve as anchoring points for muscles that direct the elongated anal fin, gonopodium, during its use in copulatory sperm transfer. To investigate these structures, the classic technique has been to enzymatically clear the fish tissues, stain ossified tissues with Alizarin red, and observe under a dissecting microscope. While reliable, this technique is time consuming. Here we compare clearing and staining of male mosquitofish with imaging results obtained from high-resolution x-ray. Specifically, we examine the resolution of sexually dimorphic male skeletal features and discuss perceived advantages to high resolution x-raying, including more rapid sample processing.
