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& Kyle R. Luckenbill#* Laboratory of Ichthyology, Department of Zoology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Avenida Perimetral, 1901, 66077-530, Belém, PA, Brazil
# Department of Ichthyology, The Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 19103-1195 Philadelphia, PA, USA
A method for visualizing previously pigmented areas of the body with the employment of black-light spectrum bulbs is described. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, fish musculature fluoresces, whereas melanophores absorb incident light, revealing nearly lost contrast between once strongly and poorly pigmented areas of the body that has faded over time. Although a yet unknown extent of melanophore preservation is necessary to expose such contrast, the method was successful on a partially faded holotype of Characidium fasciadorsale Fowler, a nearly completely faded holotype of Characidium etheostoma Cope, and most remarkably for the blackened, previously mold-infested and nearly destroyed holotype of Holotaxis laetus Cope. In the latter case, the method also allowed better recognition of scale pockets on the skin.
Link: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1635/053.165.0112
Recently preserved specimen of Characidium zebra ANSP 167824 50 mm SL: A. under regular illumination; B. under regular plus black light illumination; C. under black light as single source of illumination.
Fig. 3. Holotype of Characidium etheostoma ANSP 8152, 37.1 mm SL: A. under regular illumination; B. under regular plus black light illumination; C. under black light as single source of illumination.
