Class Osteichthyes (bony fish)
For those of you that love to go fishing, you may already know a fair amount about fish - inside and out by the time you prepare them for dinner.
Osteichthyes literally means 'bone fish'. When you are doing your dissection of the perch specimen, you will have no doubts about the bones. It can be a bit of a challenge removing the operculum (gill covering) to examine the gills. I recommend skipping the dissection scissors and use tin snips or if your mom will allow, kitchen shears. Of course, clean them up well before returning them. I have a pair of kitchen shears that are specifically used for the perch dissection so that I need not use them in the kitchen afterward. A heads up - they smell like fish even after being preserved. Do you dissection outside or with the windows open if you can. Since I do about three dissections for the online classes on perch dissection day, I have come to find that serving fish for dinner is helpful because everything will taste like fish anyway because of the fishy smell in the house.
Don't forget to get the microscope out. Even though the dissection of a fish may seem an unlikely candidate for microscope use, the fish scales and the gills are quite interesting to look at under a microscope.
If you live near an aquarium or a place to go fishing, this would be a great time for a field-trip!
Osteichthyes literally means 'bone fish'. When you are doing your dissection of the perch specimen, you will have no doubts about the bones. It can be a bit of a challenge removing the operculum (gill covering) to examine the gills. I recommend skipping the dissection scissors and use tin snips or if your mom will allow, kitchen shears. Of course, clean them up well before returning them. I have a pair of kitchen shears that are specifically used for the perch dissection so that I need not use them in the kitchen afterward. A heads up - they smell like fish even after being preserved. Do you dissection outside or with the windows open if you can. Since I do about three dissections for the online classes on perch dissection day, I have come to find that serving fish for dinner is helpful because everything will taste like fish anyway because of the fishy smell in the house.
Don't forget to get the microscope out. Even though the dissection of a fish may seem an unlikely candidate for microscope use, the fish scales and the gills are quite interesting to look at under a microscope.
If you live near an aquarium or a place to go fishing, this would be a great time for a field-trip!