Hello,

I have a question regarding drying of alcohol-stored specimens.

I searched the archives and found lots of info on how to store molluscs in
alcohol
but almost nothing about how to dry them properly.

I have some tiny shelled gastropods from hydrothermal vents. They are all
stored (say  4-5 years) in alcohol (70% ethanol, I think). I would like to
dry some of them but don't know how  to do it properly.
The problem is that shells (not perio!) tend to crack very badly during the
drying.  This is probably due to contraction of animal tissue.  Most Limpets
seem to be safe from cracking, probably because they are not coiled and
shrinking animal can't cause such tensions. Ironically, in most cases rare
shells are affected, common species "survive" without a problem.

Perhaps a dilution of alcohol (by adding of water, step by step) would
prevent cracking during the drying.
I know some people rinse their shells with water after removing them from
alcohol. But soft tissue would began to decay then (or wouldn't?).

I don't want to extract the animal, I want to keep it dry inside the shell.
Any suggestions how to this without losing the hard parts?

Thanks for your answers.

Milan














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