[Histonet] Zebrafish histology

[Dickey, Coral]

Hello out there,

I am doing double skeletal staining on zebrafish and we run into a problem with visualization of th skeleton. The scales take up the alizarin red stain and they are incredibly persistent and don't come off the fish very well even after weeks in KOH/Glycerin solution. They make it difficult to see the inside of the fish. The rest of the fish is quite delicate after this length of time however, posing a challenge to remove the scales without breaking the fish to pieces!

The first time I performed this stain, I used a plastic pipette to debride the scales. This was incredibly tedious and time consuming. Does anyone have experience with this or even have a good idea?

Any suggestions appreciated!
Thanks in advance,

Coral Dickey
Histology Specialist I

Stowers Institute for Medical Research
1000 E. 50th Street
Kansas City,  Missouri  64110
Phone:  816-926-4305
e-mail:  cad <@t> stowers-institute.org