Marlo,
Narcosis and anesthesia are a continuum. While a short time duration may
slow the mollusk down (anesthesia), a longer time duration will kill it
(narcosis). If you are lucky, you will anesthetize the mollusk, get your
photos, and then can put the animal back in freshwater or seawater
(whichever is appropriate) and have it revive.
I have only narcotized mollusks on one occasion. It was a sample of 5 or 6
minute land mollusks; only two fully extended. I do not consider myself an
expert in this area. My short piece in the book was basically a review of
the literature that I was able to find. Good luck.
> Thanks to all for information. I think I'll try the magnesium chloride
> (MgCl2), since I probably can get some at the local drug store. And,
> Charlie, I will take notes. However, I guess I could have been a bit more
> informative as to what I'm trying to do. What I want to do is to get the
> little buggers so groggy that they slow down or pause long enough for me
> to
> get some photos at 10 or 20X. I don't use flash so my exposure speeds are
> slow. They (those micro univalves) race around so quickly they come out
> blurred.
>
> Any creeaative ideas?????????????????
> Marlo
> merritt island, fl
>
> Tue 2/16/2010 6:02 AM, Marlo wrote:
>
> A little online research and I found that magnesium chloride, magnesium
> sulfate, chloral hydrate, phenoxyethanol, and phenoxypropanol can be used
> to
> narcotize shells. For those who have done this my questions are:
>
> 1. Which one is easily available, the most effective and the least
> hazardous to work with?
> 2. Tips on use?
> 3. Is one better than another for bivalves or univalves?
> 4. Is one better when working with micro shells (<15 mm)?
>
>
>
Regards,
Charlie
.................................................
Charlie Sturm
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Assistant Professor - Family Medicine
Fellow-American Academy of Family Practice
Fellow-Academy of Wilderness Medicine
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