>Dear Conch-lers,
>I have recently acquired a couple of live Cymatium
>corrugatum from fishermen.
>The specimens died while driving home and are now deep
>inside the shell, out of reach of any kind of tools.
>Do you have any suggestions for cleaning these
>specimens without damaging the thick periostracum
>which covers the shells?
>Would burying them in the soil be a good method?

No!!! Decomposition products will remain inside the shell... that's
not so much the problem as those products which leak out of the shell
and damage the visible internal & external surfaces.

Try shaking the specimens violently, holding them FIRMLY and with the
canal downward (do this where it is safe to, or else clean the
ceiling, walls etc up afterward). The sudden stop at the downward end
of the swing will hopefully (eventually) cause much or all of the
animal to fly out. Keep track of it... you'll need to retrieve the
operculum. It helps to flush with a strong water jet up the aperture
between sets of shakes.

Whatever is left will soften as it rots and you can flush/shake it
out in a few days' time (store with canal upward while allowing
specimens to sit, so that acids remain harmlessly in the upper
spire). Alternatively you can sit the specimens spire-down and
dribble a bit of formalin (4% is ideal) into each shell, allowing
them to remain thus for some days, then give them a good rinsing-out
& shake to remove unabsorbed formalin. The specimens can then dry; if
formalin is used the remaining animal matter should not rot.
Sometimes mites may breed in the fixed tissues; this becomes obvious
when fine tan powder appears around the shell or falls out when it is
handled. This is mite-poo. It won't harm the shell, though it looks a
bit messy.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<[log in to unmask]>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut

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