The advent of less destructive techniques like gastric lavage to sample
stomach contents has made it possible to study the dietary habits of
turtles and other herps without cutting them up. I found this in
Whittfeild Gibbons "Their Blood Runs Cold" - which also mentions the use
of X-rays to count eggs in gravid female sliders and cooters.
Not sure how if this could work for fish so I am inclined to agree with
others that studying closely related "surrogate" species is a good
aproach to gaining info- though captive breeding can also produce
surplus specimens for "destructive analysis" as well as a backup
population.
Jeff
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