3-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING OF WALLEYE POLLOCK OTOLITHS - RECONSTRUCTION FROM SERIAL SECTIONS AND FLUORESCENT LASER CYTOMETRY

Two techniques have been developed to examine the three-dimensional in ternal structure of otoliths. In the first, otoliths were sectioned se rially, images were digitized, and the otolith was reconstructed as a computer model. in the second method growth increments were marked in vivo during their formation by immersing the fish in a fluorescent dye , and then the internal structure of the otolith visualized using lase r cytometry. The results are useful for evaluating the potential for b ias in otolith measurements and for determining the sectional plane wi th the least bias. (C) 1995 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles .