Is rigor mortis the cause of post‐mortem shrinkage in juvenile Pagrus auratus?

An experiment demonstrated that post‐mortem shrinkage in fork length of juvenile pink snapper Pagrus auratus(179–262 mm) was the same in fish in which rigor mortis was surgically inhibited, as in intact fish, and averaged 5·5 ± 0·2 mm (mean ± s.e., range 2–9 mm) after 168 h.