A dried bivalve can usually be opened by soaking in water, to which a little
dish detergent has been added (not dish washer detergent, the kind designed
for hand washing of dishes, if anyone remembers that venerable tradition).
The process will be faster if you can get the liquid inside the shell. Hold
the specimen submerged, so that the two valves are "right and left" rather
than "above and below". Then slowly rotate the shell until you see bubbles
rising from the junction of the two valves. That indicates a gap. As the air
bubbles out of the shell, the solution goes in. Hold the shell until the
bubbles stop rising. When you release it, it should sink, indicating that
the shell is full of water. This also works on bivalve shells that have
been glued shut. Wholesale dealers often do this, for two reasons. First,
to ensure that the proper valves remain together (they may have many
specimens of the same species); and second, to prevent the valves from
chipping by rattling against each other during shipment. I have
occasionally had bivalves that had been glued shut with non-water soluble
glue, which I have managed to open by soaking in some organic solvent. But
in most cases water with detergent will work fine. It may take a while - a
couple of hours to overnight.
> ----------
> From: Conchologists List on behalf of He Jing (Shells from China)
> Reply To: Conchologists List
> Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 2:33 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: How to open a bivavle specimen ?
>
> How about the dried specimen ?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> He Jing
>
> www.shellsfromchina.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Campbell" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 3:17 AM
> Subject: Re: How to open a bivavle specimen ?
>
>
> >A few forms such as spondylids and some nuculanids have teeth that
> > interlock so as to be difficult or impossible to separate without
> > breaking the shell. Otherwise, muscle and ligament are what holds the
> > shell together and can be cut. Viewing the hinge in a live animal is
> > not often possible, not counting X rays.
> >
> > --
> > Dr. David Campbell
> > 425 Scientific Collections
> > University of Alabama
> > "I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
> >
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