[NHCOLL-L:5240] Re: Preserving a dead shark
A.J.van_Dam at lumc.nl
A.J.van_Dam at lumc.nl
Tue Feb 1 10:19:03 EST 2011
I would not recommend to use saturated concentrations of formaldehyde. Besides the much higher health and safety risks, concentrations above 8% formaldehyde might (locally) harden the tissue in such manner that tissue damage due to manipulation is more likely to occur.
Andries J. van Dam, conservator
Museum of Anatomy
Leiden University Medical Center
Postal zone T7-P
P.O. Box 9600
2300 RC Leiden
The Netherlands
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Visiting address: Hippocratespad 21, building 3
Scientific collection manager, Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis
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Associate scientist, Natural History Museum, London
http://www.nhm.ac.uk <http://www.nhm.ac.uk/>
Directory Board member ICOM-CC
http://www.icom-cc.org <http://www.icom-cc.org/>
Director Alcomon Company
http://www.alcomon.com <http://www.alcomon.com/>
________________________________
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
Sent: dinsdag 1 februari 2011 12:15
To: gregory.watkins-colwell at yale.edu; nhcoll-L at lists.yale.edu
Cc: John E Simmons; couteaufin at aol.com
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:5238] Re: Preserving a dead shark
Hi Greg,
slitting is preferred especially in (very) large specimens, to allow a sufficient influx of preservative fluids. Even though if you inject highly concentrated formaldehyde solution (up to 37%), you might have problems if the total fluid amount is not sufficient to reach all / the rostralmost organs, i.e.the stomach. Furthermore, the preservative might be degraded from (fatty) body fluids escaping from the - already decomposing - guts.
In many species (especially predators), autolysis of the guts is quite fast. This is not that much an issue with frozen specimens, but with fresh ones, e.g. cichlids of the genus Crenicichla or the herbivorous Steatocranus are notorious for autolysis of their guts within minutes.
Fixation of large herbivorous / detritivorous Cyprinids may cause another problem: because of slow fixation rates of the limited amount of preservative after injection, the enzymatic processes in the guts are not stopped in due time, so that fermentation gases may be an issue (blowing up the specimens like a ballon). But this is again more a problem when fixing fresh specimens rather then frozen ones.
You may be interested in a recent publication on preservation of fresh water fishes in ABCTaxa, which benefited much from the input of Andy Bentley and Simon Moore!
http://www.abctaxa.be/volumes/volume-8-manual-atbi/chapter-22
You may find preservation routines e.g. for the herps, mammals etc. in separate chapters of this publication.
http://www.abctaxa.be/volumes/volume-8-manual-atbi/chapter-22
All the best
Dirk
Am 28.01.2011 14:36, schrieb Watkins-Colwell, Gregory:
I agree with Carol. I formalin-fix a lot of zoo stock and other things (road kills, etc.) that are frozen prior to me prepping them. The problem specimens are always either frozen after decomp started, or from freezers that had electrical issues and thawed a few times. Freezer burn is also a huge issue, especially if the specimen was stored in a frost-free freezer. I've had some luck with donors freezing the specimen in a block of ice. This at least reduces some of the freeze-dry effect.
As for injection vs. slitting... does anybody know why slitting is more common in fish prep than injection? I have always assumed it's because it is faster on a RV to just slit the fish and toss them into a vat of formalin than it is to stop and inject them individually. But is there any benefit to slitting vs. injection? I've done both and personally like the results of injection better. I feel like I have more control over where the juice goes. But maybe I'm missing something.
Greg
--------------------------------------
Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell
Division of Vertebrate Zoology
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
170 Whitney Avenue, Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520
203/432-3791 or fax: 203/432-2874
-----------------------------------
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Carol Spencer
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 7:27 PM
To: rrosenblatt at ucsd.edu
Cc: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:5219] Re: Preserving a dead shark
Hi all,
I prepare many specimens from frozen animals for herps often (from specimens that people have donated to us). We thaw them completely in a cold room, then take tissues samples, and THEN prepare in formalin. You cannot take tissue samples after the specimens has been fixed in formalin. I have never had a problem with specimens being rotten or disintegrating before they thaw completely. A bigger issue is the specimens not turning out as nice as a fresh specimens because of freezer burn, so for this reason it's best to get it out of the freezer and prepared as soon as possible.
-Carol
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 2:36 PM, Richard Rosenblatt <rrosenblatt at ucsd.edu> wrote:
I second (or third) the recommendations of Dirk and John. It should be totally unnecessary to inject a small shark. If you thaw it in formalin the outer tissues will become fixed as it thaws and prevent further diffusion. One refinement would be to put the specimen in formalin for 30 minutes or so to let the skin harden before slitting-keeps the body wall from gaping. All the chemistry as recommended is simply not needed.
DIrk and SImon
My concern with thawing the shark prior to preservation is the amount of tissue damage that occurs during freezing and thawing which is why I reccomend thawing in fomaldehyde. Your comments on this will be appreciated.
John
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------Original Message------
From: Dirk Neumann <Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de>
To: <Couteaufin at aol.com>,<sej139 at yahoo.com>
Cc: <NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu>
Date: Thu, Jan 27, 8:43 AM +0100
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:5211] Re: Preserving a dead shark
Hi Steven, Simon,
from experiences with preservation of our 200 something Etmopterid
sharks I would adjust Simon's procedure as follows:
Thaw the shark under cold water (don't use hot water)
Pin the fins prior to formalin fixation and try to get the shark in a
somehow natural shape (elsewise you will fix the specimen as bended as
retrieved from the freezer).
Take the tissue sample in advance (immediately after thawing), best take
muscular tissue from inside of the body cavity by cutting the abdomen IN
FRONT of the anus
Cut the body cavity to allow influx of formaldehyde solution into the
belly; this works much better then injections and especially allows
escape of the oil emerging from the liver which elsewise you will have
an awful smelly preservation issue for years (see Simon Moore's comments
on this, you may have a pH-issue with breaking fatty acids).
Consider to wash the specimen with a bit detergent after recovery from
fixation to avoid too much oil in the alcohol.
Sharks are rather easy to preserve and not as sensitive as most bony fishes.
Hope this helps
All the best
Dirk
Am 27.01.2011 00:22, schrieb Couteaufin at aol.com:
Hi Steven,
You shark - what you proposed re the formalin sounds fine to me. Once
fully thawed, inject it with 10% formalin (3.76% formaldehyde) until
it just starts to swell ever-so slightly or the fluid runs out again. Make sure that you inject the brain area, the area round the liver and
the pelvic cavity too.
You can then preserve it (after a few days) in 5% formalin, alcohol
(gradually up a ladder of 20% stages) or whatever preservative seems
easiest. If you want DNA then don't leave it in formalin for more
than 5 days and transfer to alcohol. You will get some lipid (as
yellow-brown globules) leaching in time from the liver in particular,
as formalin will only preserve lipid. Don't worry if the fluid is
still clear but if it turns at all murky or dark brown, check the pH
and change the fluid anyway for fresh.
Have fun and check out the website below, if time permits.!
With all good wishes, Simon
Simon Moore MIScT, FLS, ACR,
Conservator of Natural Sciences,
20 Newbury Street,
Whitchurch RG28 7DN.
www.natural-history-conservation.com
<http://www.natural-history-conservation.com/>
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/naturalsciencespecimenconserve
In a message dated 26/01/2011 22:41:20 GMT Standard Time,
sej139 at yahoo.com writes:
Hi everyone, sorry to bother the list with something that isn't
really all that
paleo related, but I was wondering if someone could help me out. I
recently got
a roughly 1 foot long baby shark. Since it is so young, I would
like to preserve
it. It is currently frozen in a block of ice until I can figure
out what to do
with it. Since I would like to preserve it, I was wondering what
the best and/or
easiest way to do that might be. I have been leaning toward
> getting some
formaldehyde or formalin, injecting some into it and preserving it
in a jar with
the rest. If that is best, how much should I inject into it.
Thanks for any help I receive,
~Steven
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steven E. Jasinski
Paleontological and Research Assistant
State Museum of Pennsylvania
Graduate Studies
Department of Biology
East Tennessee State University
Phone: (717)586-9835
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Dirk Neumann
Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
Postanschrift:
Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München
Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
---------
Dirk Neumann
Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
postal address:
Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)
Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
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