Paul, When you brought this up, I was grateful for the advice you received because we also have that problem. It IS truly amazing what just a little water can do. Besides, seeing the inside of the valves often is important to correct identification. Both the hinge and inside color as well as pallial sinus, etc. contribute to the correct ID of almost identical species. For that reason, I wish that the wonderful websites (like Femorale, Conchology Inc., and others) that so often help me identifying my snails would also display the inside of the valves. Those of us who benefitted from your query thank you.




 
---- Paul Jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 

=============
Hello list members,
      I just wanted to happily report back to everyone on my solidly
successful results getting my glued purchased bivalves separated.  Many
thank yous to everyone for the dead on target and easy to follow advice!
      I used just plain ole warm tap water and the results were amazing!
Virtually everything I put in the warm water separated quickly and easily.
Some took as little as five minutes, others maybe an hour or two.  The only
holdouts so far have been two very small Mirapecten moluccensis that insist
on simply floating on the surface.
      I decided against pushing the process further with them because they
were so paper thin and delicate, just leaving them sealed.Then later, I was
able to purchase another specimen that was larger, unglued and flush with
deep cherry red on the inside of the valves, what a stunner!  The best of
both worlds...;o).
     Seeing the inside of many of the separated species for the first time
was something akin to Christmas morning for me!  I was stunned by the
gorgeous colors on the inside of the valves of some of them that were
completely invisible previously.  I highly recommend to all trying it if
you haven't already. Wait until you see what is lurking on the inside!

Happy shelling to all, Paul in the Ancient City (by U. S. Standards, that
is...;o)

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