Histopathological techniques - Winter school on recent advances in diagnosis and management of diseases in mariculture, 7th to 27th November 2002, Course Manual

Histology, the study of the microanatomy of specific tissues, has been successfully employed as a diagnostic tool within medical and veterinary science since the first cellular investigations were carried out in the mid -19th century (Virchow 1858). Due to the rapid rate of autolysis of fish tissues compared to that of homeotherms, they must be handled rapidly to prevent degenerative changes within the specimen, making ultimate diagnosis either unreliable or impossible