[Nhcoll-l] preserving leafy sea dragon

[John E Simmons]

I agree with Simon and Dirk. Use 1:9 formaldehyde and the same salt water
the animal was living in, and inject as needed to make sure you get good
penetration of the fixative. Once it is hardened, it can be transferred to
70% ETOH for long-term storage.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 10:09 AM Catherine Early (she/her) <cearly at smm.org>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm passing along a request from advice from a zoo partner: they had a
> leafy sea dragon pass away and want to fluid-preserve it. They have
> formalin on hand and can put it into there immediately after necropsy, but
> is there a better approach? My experience is with fluid-preserving
> terrestrial animals and I don't have my copy of John Simmons' book at hand
> today, so I'm feeling out of my depth to help them. Thanks!
>
> Best,
> Catherine
>
>
> Catherine M. Early, PhD
>
> *she/her/hers*
>
> Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology
>
> cearly at smm.org
>
> https://catherineearly.wixsite.com/home
>
>
>
>
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