Experiment 1: Analyze Stickleback Fish from Lakes

Part 1: Staining the Fish

In this part of the experiment, you will treat the stickleback collected from Bear Paw Lake in a solution with a dye that stains bones red, thereby making pelvic structures much easier to see.

Watch a video of how these fish were caught.

To catch the fish, scientists throw special traps in the water, which they leave overnight. The traps are tube shaped with funnel openings at each end. The fish enter the traps, probably out of curiosity, but most don't manage to swim back out. Researchers simply pull the traps out of the water to collect the live fish. The fish are euthanized with an overdose of anesthetic, according to protocols set out by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and then stored in jars containing formalin or alcohol preservative.