Morphological Distortion among Post-Ossified Larval Fish in Varying Durations of Alcohol and Formalin Solutions

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

18-4-2016 10:00 AM

End Date

18-4-2016 11:30 AM

Student's Major

Biological Sciences

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Shannon Fisher

Mentor's Department

Biological Sciences

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Second Mentor's Name

Nathaniel Lederman

Second Mentor's Department

Biological Sciences

Second Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Larval fish identification is a tedious and time consuming process. Therefore larvae are usually fid and preserved for later analysis. Literature indicated that researchers are moving away from formalin as a fixative due to its carcinogenic nature. However, formalin remains the preferred option if preventing morphometric distortion is warranted. Studies have suggested that prior fixing in formalin could reduce the amount of morphometric distortion induced by the ethyl alcohol preservation. However, no mention of time or amount of distortion that occurred among fixation periods was mentioned. We assessed larval fish distortion as a result of varying 10% formalin fixation followed by preservation in 90% ethyl alcohol. Preliminary results show a significant (p < .05) difference between the 12 and 48 hour fixation in formalin, but no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the 24 and 48 hour fixation after being preserved in 90% ethyl alcohol. The 48 hour fixation period showed a greater distortion. The study is ongoing and being completed by the Minnesota State University, Mankato Subunit of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Preliminary results were presented at the 2016 Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan for fish at one day old. The final results are pending at the post- ossified level. However, these data may be useful for attempts to establish standardized larval fish sampling that protocols that preserve the morphological characteristics while also limiting exposure of employees to exposure to formalin.

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Apr 18th, 10:00 AM Apr 18th, 11:30 AM

Morphological Distortion among Post-Ossified Larval Fish in Varying Durations of Alcohol and Formalin Solutions

CSU Ballroom

Larval fish identification is a tedious and time consuming process. Therefore larvae are usually fid and preserved for later analysis. Literature indicated that researchers are moving away from formalin as a fixative due to its carcinogenic nature. However, formalin remains the preferred option if preventing morphometric distortion is warranted. Studies have suggested that prior fixing in formalin could reduce the amount of morphometric distortion induced by the ethyl alcohol preservation. However, no mention of time or amount of distortion that occurred among fixation periods was mentioned. We assessed larval fish distortion as a result of varying 10% formalin fixation followed by preservation in 90% ethyl alcohol. Preliminary results show a significant (p < .05) difference between the 12 and 48 hour fixation in formalin, but no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the 24 and 48 hour fixation after being preserved in 90% ethyl alcohol. The 48 hour fixation period showed a greater distortion. The study is ongoing and being completed by the Minnesota State University, Mankato Subunit of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Preliminary results were presented at the 2016 Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan for fish at one day old. The final results are pending at the post- ossified level. However, these data may be useful for attempts to establish standardized larval fish sampling that protocols that preserve the morphological characteristics while also limiting exposure of employees to exposure to formalin.

Recommended Citation

Roberts, Endora. "Morphological Distortion among Post-Ossified Larval Fish in Varying Durations of Alcohol and Formalin Solutions." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 18, 2016.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2016/poster-session-A/26