Revised procedures for staining and clearing small fishes and other vertebrates for bone and cartilage study

🤖 Plain-English Summary

A revised procedure is described for counterstaining specimens with Alcian blue for cartilage and alizarin red S for bone, and for clearing tissue with enzymes and/or potassium hydroxide. Following cartilage staining, specimens are immediately deacidified in alkaline solutions instead of transferring them through several series of alcohols.

🔑 Key Findings

• Procedures are described and suggestions are made to minimize loss or damage to bone and cartilage structures during fixation, storage in collections, and clearing and staining specimens.
• This method differs from previously described procedures primarily in the following: specimens are not placed in water to remove formaldehyde following fixation.
• Instead they are dehydrated through a series of alcohols to minimize the acetic acid activity on bony structures while staining for cartilage.

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