Extracting Skeletons Of Fish

[Dorkhedeos]

I was wondering if anybody had a good way to extract a skeleton from a dead fish. I thought it might be cool to have a warty or a bichir skeleton if something happens to die

 

[fourthtimelucky]

Cook it then pull off the flesh?

But to keep it long term you would probably want to ask a qualified taxidermist! I'm sure they use some sort of acidic compound to dissolve the flesh, then something else again to 'fix' the bones and stop them rotting. I think it would be difficult to preserve it entirely without setting it in a resin block or something as some of the tiny bones are such thin cartilage.

 

[kewskills]

Dont know if this is useful, but i found this website with PDF n preserving animal skulls.

[URL="http/cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf"]http/cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf[/URL]

let us all know when you have a definite answer as i find this an interesting subject

 

[Colin_T]

let the ants do the work for you. They will remove the flesh and leave a perfect skeleton. You can use super glue to join the bones and joints together and then put a thin layer of varnish on it. It will last for years after that.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Cook it then pull off the flesh?

But to keep it long term you would probably want to ask a qualified taxidermist! I'm sure they use some sort of acidic compound to dissolve the flesh, then something else again to 'fix' the bones and stop them rotting. I think it would be difficult to preserve it entirely without setting it in a resin block or something as some of the tiny bones are such thin cartilage.

The thing with pulling off the flesh is that you might damage the skeleton. If it were a large animal or something with really strong bones, this wouldnt be a problem, but cooked fish bones are kinda soft, especially when the fish is only about the size of a sardine.

Dont know if this is useful, but i found this website with PDF n preserving animal skulls.

<a href="http/cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf" target="_blank">http/cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf</a>

let us all know when you have a definite answer as i find this an interesting subject

Good find kew, i was actually thinking about leaving a dead fish in a small jar of water and wait for the flesh to rot and extract the filter the skeleton out afterwards. I didnt know this was an actual method of doing this though. Ill try it out with the next fish that happens to die that is a good enough size. I just have to worry about the strength of the bones because im pretty sure the only thing that will hold up is the skull.

let the ants do the work for you. They will remove the flesh and leave a perfect skeleton. You can use super glue to join the bones and joints together and then put a thin layer of varnish on it. It will last for years after that.

I dont think the ants will be able to do the work quick enough because the corpse will dry up in a couple of days, and im not sure if the ants will take it if its just like really dried up.



Ill try to do some research if i have some extra time Thanks for the contributions, ill try to keep you guys posted