What You See When You Turn a Fish Inside Out
Smithsonian scientists use X-rays to classify different species, but when viewed outside the lab, the images provide stunning art
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, February 07, 2012
The longnose batfish (Ogcocephalus corniger) has a triangular body and an upturned nose similar to a bat's. The species is found at depths of 100 to 820 feet in waters along the southeastern United States and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. (Sandra J. Raredon, Division of Fishes, NMNH)
Sandra Raredon calls up onto her computer screen a digital X-ray of a longnose batfish. The creature, collected from the Gulf of Mexico, is a bizarre-looking thing. Its pointy nose and pectoral fins, which it used to crawl along the sandy sea floor, show up in detail in the X-ray. Curiously, so does its last meal. Raredon zooms in on the fish’s gut. “It actually ate a whole bunch of mollusks before it died,” she says. “You can even tell the genus of some of the shells.”
As a museum specialist in the National Museum of Natural History’s division of fishes, Raredon helps to maintain the largest fish collection in the world and she X-rays the specimens as part of the research. Forty of her digital X-rays, which are not only scientific records but dazzling works of art, are on display in “X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out,” at the National Museum of Natural History through August 5, 2012.
Comments (6)
I thought that art was something that was created, not something that just appeared.
Posted by Jim on April 27,2012 | 04:34 PM
Although I personally would not use the word this way, I did just look it up, and the use of the word "reticent" is not inappropriate. reticent: "restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance " Before getting grouchy with the editors, try a quick search for multiple uses and definitions.
Posted by TTurner on April 3,2012 | 09:55 PM
They are stunning images. The slider that allows us to view the outside and inside at the same time is a great tool. I hope to visit the display at the National Museum of Natural History.
Posted by Kathy on February 18,2012 | 01:14 PM
Interesting,
However I have been doing this as an artist for 35 years.
See my website : www.beyondlight.com. - gallery- gifts of the sea.
In my files I have many more fish.
Albert
Posted by albert Koetsier on February 18,2012 | 11:38 AM
THIS information-site, WILL BE SO HELPFUL TO MY GRANDSON, WHO IS HOME SCHOOLED. AND IS FASINATED BY OCEAN CRITTERS. THANKS FOR SHARING as it is beautiful, non-scary!
Posted by Jill Bugdanavage on February 17,2012 | 04:48 PM
"The fanged eel is reticent during the daytime ..."
Reticent??? Look it up, editors!
Posted by Christopher Carlson` on February 13,2012 | 05:05 PM