Anatomical Study of The Structure of The Trunk In Ornamental Discus Fish (Symphysodon Aequifasciatus) With Using CT Scan Images

Discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) from cichlidae is one of the most popular and expensive aquarium fish. This fish is inhabit endemically from the Amazon river and it aggregation around large fallen tree in lake during the low-water season. Males are bigger in size and this topic might be related to the complex breeding behavior known for S. aequifasciatus .In this study, ۶ ornamental discus fish (۵ inch) were obtained from ornamental fish supply centers in Tehran. The alive fish were transferred to the hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and then anesthetized with PI۲۲۲ that include Eugenol, Carvacrol, Eugenol acetate ( Pars Imen daru company, Iran) anesthetized with a dose of ۱۰۰ppm. Then, whole body digital radiograph and CT scan images of the mentioned fishes were taken and analyzed. Then, recovery from anesthesia was done by transferring the fish tothe oreated fresh water. study of radiograph and CT scan images, showed that the swim bladder in this fish, it is bisectional and starts from the back of the head region(around the third vertebra) and continues along of the pubic fin (It extends about the twenty-third vertebra). In most fishes, the swim bladder extends to locatation that the hemal spines begin. The results of the examination of the discus fish skeleton demonstrate that the number of spinal vertebrae is ۳۶, the number of neural spines is ۳۶, the number of hemal spines is ۳۶, the number of hemal arch is ۷۲, the number of pterygoid of dorsal fin is ۳۸, the number of pterygoid of the dorsal fin is ۳۲, and the number of ribs is ۳۶ pairs (۷۲). Thus this study illustrate that the use of diagnostic imaging (radiography and CT scan) as a non-invasive method to examine the skeleton anatomy of valuable and expensive ornamental fish is a very suitable method .