[Nhcoll-l] Gastropoda (and bivalvia) collections

Thu Jun 6 12:16:49 EDT 2024

Hi Joosep,

Have you ever explored STASH (Storage Techniques for Art Science & History Collections | Keeping your collections safe (wpengine.com)<https://stashc.wpengine.com/>.  This is a web site that is based on a 1990's SPNHC book looking at various creative storage ideas for museum collections. There are several ideas that might help.  I am thinking particularly of the challenge you face, particularly the organizing of the bags.  This can be done quite inexpensively

Bags | Storage Techniques for Art Science & History Collections (wpengine.com)<https://stashc.wpengine.com/the-publication/containers-2/bags/>.  These are systems that you can adapt to your needs.

Gretchen Anderson
Conservator
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Shoobs, Nate
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2024 8:49 AM
To: Joosep Sarapuu <Joosep.Sarapuu at loodusmuuseum.ee>; NHCOLL-new <Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Gastropoda (and bivalvia) collections

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Hey Joosep,
If you don't have the funds for archival quality metal cabinets and acid-free specimen boxes, plastic bags (specifically, bags made of virgin polyethylene or polypropylene) are a cost effective storage solution for dry mollusk shells. The downside of this approach is that it is 'messy' - it's hard to organize specimens when they are in plastic bags like this. They slide around in drawers, they may damage eachother if you fill the drawer with heavy and lightweight specimens, etc. also -- you have to be totally certain the shells are completely dry. If not, mold and moisture will damage the specimens.

For dry shells of gastropods, we store most specimens in borosilicate glass 'shell vials'. These are sold in bulk by Fisher, Carolina, and other biological supply houses, with or without caps. Our collection uses 8 dram vials as the 'standard' size for gastropods. All of the specimens in the lot must fit in the vial, if not, we store them in an open face paperboard tray with the number written on them.

Even specimens small enough to fit in smaller vials go in these big vials (we use smaller vials inside of the big vial, if necessary). We print a standard size label with catalogue number, species ID, and collecting information that goes in the vial, then we pack the end of the vial with polyfill (the same as can be bought at any craft or aquarium store). The vials are stored flat on their sides in neat rows in paperboard unit trays that are labeled by species. Specimens larger or too numerous to fit in a shell vial go in open face paperboard unit trays or polystyrene boxes with a hinged lid.

Our bivalves we store exclusively in open face paperboard unit trays with the label in the box. The catalogue number is written on each specimen valve with archival ink (pigma micron pen).

As for wet specimens -- nhcoll-l has many posts with recommendations for vials and jars. For gastropods, a combo of a 6 dram borosilicate capsule vial (26 mm lid opening) with matching poly-cone lid is a great general purpose wet storage vial for small gastropods. If you have bigger specimens, 4 oz flint glass jars with f217 lined polypropylene caps are a good 'large specimen' jar, and very cheap to buy in bulk.

In our collection, we assign the same catalogue number to the dry and wet parts of a single lot (the specimens of 1 species collected at 1 place and time). The collection labels that go with both containers clearly indicate that there are both wet and dry components. We sometimes also separate the shell and body, in which case the parts of the specimen are marked with a decimal number after the catalogue number (e.g. OSUM 1234.1 would be written on the shell and on a slip of paper in a subvial with the wet body) to allow the matching up of the shells and the bodies.
Feel free to reach out directly and I can send pictures of any of this stuff.
-Nate

-
Nathaniel F. Shoobs, Curator of Mollusks
College of Arts & Sciences Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University
Museum of Biological Diversity
1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
614-688-1342 (Office)
mbd.osu.edu<http://mbd.osu.edu/>
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Joosep Sarapuu <Joosep.Sarapuu at loodusmuuseum.ee<mailto:Joosep.Sarapuu at loodusmuuseum.ee>>
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2024 8:16:26 AM
To: NHCOLL-new <Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Gastropoda (and bivalvia) collections

Dear all, I would like to know how are your gastropoda (and bivalvia) collections organised. What is the best way to preserve gastropoda, fluid collections or dryied specimens? Or both, like from one area and date to put some of them into EtOH

Dear all,

I would like to know how are your gastropoda (and bivalvia) collections organised.

  *   What is the best way to preserve gastropoda, fluid collections or dryied specimens? Or both, like from one area and date to put some of them into EtOH (70%) and some to dry?
  *   How to preserve dryed specimens? Right now we have most of them in ziplock bag (multiple from the same place and time) and in foamed box, but maybe for them the best is to have some small jars/vials? Who sells these ones in Europe? Is there any different preservation technique between small and big shells?

Sincerely,

Joosep Sarapuu

Estonian Museum of Natural History

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