Re: NANFA-L-- Preserves...


Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Preserves...
From: Dave McNeely (dlmcneely-in-lunet.edu)
Date: Wed Aug 11 2004 - 15:13:27 CDT


alcohols extract colors rapidly. Formaldehyde solution fades color, but less rapidly than alcohols extract them. Museum collections used to be fixed first in formalin (some still are) and then preserved in ethyl alcohol after washing the formaldehyde out in water. Many museums now prefer that the fish are put directly into alcohol in order to prevent denaturation of the DNA. Very few museum collections have ever been preserved (stored) in formaldehyde solution. And from personal experience, fish stored in alcohol are much less noxious to work with than those in formaldehyde solutions. Ethyl alcohol is better for storage than is isopropyl, because-in-the recommended concentrations, the fish in ethanol are less brittle than the ones in isopropanol.

Smithsonian Institution has a publication on this subject, and it can be accessed via the ASIH web page (http://www.asih.org).

Good fishin'

McNeely in Oklahoma
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: matt ashton
  To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
  Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 10:06 PM
  Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Preserves...

  All the fish that died on me from the grand trip are in a 70-80% iso propyl solution.
  Ive seen it several places that it keeps the color better and in my experiences with small collections and my personal collection it does by far. I got a museum studies student working on the question now too. But in all my experience isopropyl keeps color alot better than anything else, but I dont know about lamprey. I am not a fan of formalin. Great for keeping things 50, 100, so on years that you dont want to look-in-secondary things like color and what not and are going to be locked away in a vault. Ive also heard good stories about a alcohol mix.

  Todd Crail <farmertodd-in-buckeye-express.com> wrote:
    Hi Gang,

    Well I have a short picturementary here to share from my week teaching a
    camp on native fish-in-the Toledo Zoo. I'll write up something much more
    detailed next week, but I do have a question for now.

    I have a fiesty lil' animal I need to preserve...

    So that the next time I do some of this:
    http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/zoo/01.jpg

    When I have some of these:
    http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/zoo/02.jpg

    And we DON'T miraculously catch (and immediately release :) one of these:
    http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/zoo/03.jpg

    That still, amazingly, had one of these:
    http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/zoo/04.jpg (kickin' yerself now Mr Z? :)

    That I can STILL attract one of these:
    http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/zoo/05.jpg

    The idea here is... I don't want a personal formalin bath (from this thing
    flying ! around when I put him down) and I would like to maintain as much of
    the skin color for as long as possible (ie ethanol frosting ain't cool).
    Suggestions? Maybe I can put him down with Isopropyl alcohol and then move
    him into the more permanent formalin crypt.

    Is that going to burn his silky skin (the isopropyl)? I know it doesn't do
    damage to scaled fishes... But I don't want to flub this one up.

    I can not believe how much these things slime and poop. I've changed the
    water twice now since midnight last night and the water still has a blackish
    tint to it. Hoping to put him down nice n gentle tomorrow as early as
    possible, so as to not border on inhumane :)

    Todd
    The Mighty Maumee Madness, Toledo, OH
    It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
    http://www.farmertodd.com

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/ consistent with the guidelines as per
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: Wed Sep 29 2004 - 12:24:19 CDT