The skin of most bony and cartilaginous fish are covered in scales. Even eels have microscopic scales on them! Fish scales are produced from the mesoderm layer of the dermis, which distinguishes them from reptile scales. The same genes involved in tooth and hair development in mammals are also involved in scale development in fish.
Microscope World recently visited the fish market and purchased some fresh salmon to view under the
HSZ6-TBL stereo zoom microscope. The images below were all captured at 100x magnification using the
DCM2.1 microscope camera and microscope software. 100x magnification was reached by using a slightly higher magnification
c-mount camera adapter.
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| Fish scales, 100x magnification. |
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| Fish scales, 100x, notice the small droplets of blood. |
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| Fish scales, 100x, darker spots. |
All of the fish images were captured from the same piece of fish, notice how different some of the parts look, all at the same magnification under the microscope.
