Chauliodus sloani Bloch & Schneider 1801

Common name: Viper fish

The Natural History Museum, London, UK

EMu user since 2002

BMNH 2002.1.3.179; Chauliodus sloani Bloch & Schneider 1801; alizarin preparation; photographed by R. Britz; specimen prepared by R. Britz and J. Maclaine. This specimen of the deep-sea viper fish was trawled from the Eastern Central Atlantic Ocean, at a depth of 775-825 metres, over the Cape Verde Plateau off the coast of Mauritania, on 9 July 1987, by the R.R.S. Discovery. Specimen preparation techniques like this whole mount enzymatic clearing with counter staining (bones red/cartilage blue) produce beautiful specimens and, because you can see into the now transparent fish, also have provided a wealth of character information from bones and cartilages.  This data from the skeleton, along with rigorous analytical procedures, has provided the foundation for modern ichthyological classification in recent decades.