<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div>Carola,<br></div>You should maintain the larval specimens in buffered 10% formaldehyde. Amphibian larvae are very soft-bodied and will shrink substantially in alcohol, making them unusable for study. In addition, the specimens may lose beaks and other significant features in alcohol. Furthermore, it will take repeated soaking in alcohol solutions to remove significant amounts of the formaldehyde, which will further damage the specimens.<br>
<br>You are correct that in general, ethanol is a safer storage solution than formaldehyde, but not for amphibian larvae. Specimens in buffered formaldehyde should be labeled as such, of course.<br><br></div>If you have other questions about fluid preservation, you may want to check this recently published reference:<br>
<br></div>"Fluid Preservation: A Comprehensive Reference."<br><br></div>Sincerely,<br></div>John<br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div>John E. Simmons<br>Museologica<br>128 E. Burnside Street<br>
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010<br><a href="mailto:simmons.johne@gmail.com" target="_blank">simmons.johne@gmail.com</a><br>303-681-5708<br><a href="http://www.museologica.com" target="_blank">www.museologica.com</a><br>
and<br>Adjunct Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br>University Park, Pennsylvania<br>and<br>Lecturer in Art<br>Juniata College<br>Huntingdon, Pennsylvania<br>
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<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 3:44 PM, Carola Haas <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cahaas@vt.edu" target="_blank">cahaas@vt.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word">I received such great help for my previous request, and hope folks won't mind my sending another one so soon. (I'm just a field biologist who has been tasked with a cleanout and reorganization of our collection.)<div>
<br></div><div>We have a number of larval amphibians (tadpoles and salamander larvae) preserved in 10% buffered formalin. Most of our fish, amphibian, and reptile specimens were fixed in formalin but then transferred over to ethanol for long-term storage. I have read that formalin is more appropriate for long-term storage of reptile eggs and larval amphibians, but I wanted to check and make sure that is still the current practice?</div>
<div><br></div><div>I would like to improve the safety of our collections by switching to ethanol if that is acceptable, but obviously not if it will degrade the specimens.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you!<br><div><br>
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Carola A. Haas<br>Professor, Wildlife Ecology<br>Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Conservation<br>112 Cheatham Hall<br>MC 0321 Virginia Tech<br>Blacksburg, VA 24061<br><a href="mailto:cahaas@vt.edu" target="_blank">cahaas@vt.edu</a><br>
<a href="tel:540-231-9269" value="+15402319269" target="_blank">540-231-9269</a><br><a href="http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/haas.htm" target="_blank">http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/haas.htm</a><br><br><br><br><br>
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