Facebook Favorite, 2016

Strange fish live below San Antonio in the biologically diverse, deep pool of the Edwards Aquifer, which provides that city most of its water. One of these fish has a scientific name that starts with "Satan" and is commonly called the eyeless widemouth blind catfish (Satan eurystomus). Its habitat is inaccessible to humans, so specimens of the fish, all collected over 30 years ago, are precious and carefully guarded. A high resolution 3D Computed Tomography scan allowed scientists to digitally extract and analyze details of its skeleton, furthering the knowledge of its evolution, ecology and basic biology. This illustration helps scientists understand how the delicate bones, supporting the species' gills, function together with its oral jaws for capturing and swallowing prey in the total darkness where it lives. The image was created with a team effort. Dean Hendrickson x-rayed all known specimens, selected the best ossified (Smithsonian specimen USNM 195830), and had it scanned in UT's Digital Morphology lab. Kyle Luckenbill, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, digitally processed the scan data.

Credit:
Dean Hendrickson, Ph.D.
Curator of Ichthyology, Department of Integrative Biology