The past few weeks has seemed like a standstill with my project, but today was a different story. I was finally able to meet up with the fishery biologist from NOAA. We met at a fish market where she interviews the commercial fishermen and then begins the extraction process. She first records the length of the fish, then (if possible) determines the sex of the fish. After she records that information she extracts the
otolith (calcified structures in the inner ear that fish use for balance and orientation ) using a chisel, knife, and forceps. Once she has the otoliths, she sends them into the test lab for further inspection. Todays catch at the market was black sea bass and greater amberjack. After showing me a number of extractions she handed me the chisel. After breaking an otolith and loosing one somewhere in the fish, I started to get the hang of it. I never would have thought I would be elbows deep in gills with a 70 pound fish. Needless to say, I learned more than I could have asked for and I had a great time doing it. I look forward to working with her again soon.
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| Otolith from a Black Sea Bass |
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| Greater Amberjack |
Excellent post, Ryan! I'm so glad that you finally got to meet with your mentor; we should certainly send her a 'Thank-you' certificate! Great job!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could have someone videotape/film (not sure what you young kids call it these days) you doing this and use it for your presentation? If you would like to extract an otolith on one of the free lab days I can take a video for you.
ReplyDeleteAngela--I think that's an EXCELLENT idea!! Ryan--if you'd like to try bringing one of your fish heads into the lab again--we could tape you extracting your otoliths.
DeleteMaybe you could get some otoliths from fish that are hunted by lionfish too (: Then we could compare results for when my fish arrives in November
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