X-ray Vision: Crisscross Prickleback

Credit: radiograph and fish photograph by Sandra J. Raredon, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
February 21, 2012
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Credit: radiograph and fish photograph by Sandra J. Raredon, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
The radiograph reveals the fine details of this skeleton—especially the long, spiny dorsal fin that forms the prickles on the fish’s back. The quality of detail is remarkable, considering that this specimen from California was preserved a century ago, in 1910.