Dear Tom,

Oooh, ooh, oooh, I know ... land pulmonates (and some operculates).

Horshaak


At 05:29 PM 10/29/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Yeah, yeah, I hear you whiners. The shell-related portion:
>
>Here at the Mussel Museum we dunk unionids in a solution of 1 lb paraffin
>dissolved in a gallon or so of xylene or toluene. The shells are left to dry
>under a hood, and the result is a nearly invisible coating that retards the
>flaking of the periostracum - which is very important to unionids. All of
>the outer color pattern is strictly in the periostracum - the shell is white
>(except for the nacre inside - so DON'T remove the periostracum from
>unionids!). Don't try this at home kids without adequate ventilation.
>Carcinogenic. Flammable. "It will rearrange your chromiums." Nuffsaid.
>
>But this raises another question. In what other major group of molluscs is
>the outer pigment and patterns only in the periostracum? Most people strip
>away the periostracum from their marine specimens to get at the colors
>underneath.

>G. Thomas Watters
>Ohio Biological Survey &
>Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
>Ohio State University
>1315 Kinnear Road
>Columbus, OH  USA
>v: 614-292-6170
>f: 614-292-0181

Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, Fl. 32204
USA   904-384-6419
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Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/wfrank/jacksonv.htm

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