[Nhcoll-l] Squid beak dissolved?

[Tom Schiøtte]

We recently at NHMD had an Architeuthis specimen out of the collection for filming and photographing. The beak of the specimen was missing and is not found in the dry collection. I could see no traces of dissection on the buccal mass, and it would be difficult, in my experience, to remove a beak without leaving any cutmarks. The probable (unrecorded) conservation history of the specimen is buffered formalin fixing after catch in 1965, subsequent transfer to 70 % alcohol with no added substances.

Martin V. Sørensen tells me about chitin being dissolved in acidic alcohol over time, but in much smaller organisms. The cephalopod beak is mostly chitin, but for example we see the beaks regularly in whale stomachs, where the conditions must be pretty acidic. Any clues to what made our Architeuthis beak disappear?

Cheers

Tom Schiøtte

Collection manager, Echinodermata & Mollusca
Natural History Museum of Denmark (Zoology)
Universitetsparken 15
DK 2100 Copenhagen OE

+45 35 32 10 48
TSchioette at snm.ku.dk<mailto:TSchioette at snm.ku.dk>


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