[Nhcoll-l] Squid beak dissolved?

[Lazo-Wasem, Eric]

Dear Tom,

This is certainly puzzling.  Our oldest Architeuthis beak dates to the ca. 1873 and it has been alcohol for at least 100 years, and probably formalin before that.  We have hundreds of specimens of various large squids and octopus, and there is no evidence that any have degraded at all.  The only real damage I have seen is with our giant pacific octopus which after 20 years in formalin became overly soft and prone to tearing.

I will be very interested to hear of other's experience with squid, and in particular, Architeuthis preservation.


Eric A. Lazo-Wasem, Senior Collections Manager

Division of Invertebrate Zoology

Peabody Museum of Natural History

Yale University

170 Whitney Avenue

New Haven, CT 06520

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Tom Schiøtte <tschioette at snm.ku.dk>
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2021 4:59 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Cc: Martin Vinther Sørensen <mvsorensen at snm.ku.dk>; Anders Drud Jordan <adjordan at snm.ku.dk>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Squid beak dissolved?


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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