The results of our investigations demonstrated that x-ray imaging of two
fishes with a 200µm resolution was sufficient to show that the vertebral
bodies were calcified on their full length. The radiological images we obtained
did not show any calcification on fish bones whose shaded figures
were clearly visible along the fish body.

In order to gain more information on the mineralogical structures of the
fish skeleton, high resolution images (38µm) were acquired using a more
efficient scanner. These images showed with good precision a lateral calcification
of the vertebral bodies and a periodic sun-shaped calcified reinforcement
in 2D. However, no calcification was observed at the vertebral
junction level.

On the transversal slices, some calcification interruptions were observed
on the vertebrae. This could be explained by the presence of blood sinus or
by a compression artifact caused by the conditions in which the fish was
captured and/or conserved.

By contrast, the high resolution settings used to image this fish allowed to
demonstrate that the fish bones were calcified and that these calcifications
originated from the vertebral junctions. In this investigation, we also showed that calcification were present at the gills level and in the mandibular elements.