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Preservation Methods

The document discusses various methods for preserving biological specimens, including: 1) Injecting preserving solutions like formalin or alcohol into specimens to maintain their original morphological characteristics for study. This involves euthanizing, injecting, fixing, labeling, and storing specimens. 2) For corals, either air-drying them to preserve general morphology but not tissues, or injecting preserving solutions to maintain the whole coral structure intact for live viewing. 3) For seaweeds, a pressing technique is used to flatten and preserve entire external morphology.

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120 views2 pages

Preservation Methods

The document discusses various methods for preserving biological specimens, including: 1) Injecting preserving solutions like formalin or alcohol into specimens to maintain their original morphological characteristics for study. This involves euthanizing, injecting, fixing, labeling, and storing specimens. 2) For corals, either air-drying them to preserve general morphology but not tissues, or injecting preserving solutions to maintain the whole coral structure intact for live viewing. 3) For seaweeds, a pressing technique is used to flatten and preserve entire external morphology.

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fleur mariaz
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Preservation methods

- Specimen preservation refers to the long-term preservations of either plant or animal samples
in the best possible condition. With the use of chemical solutions, these samples are preserved
to maintain their original morphological characteristics for further studying. The preservation
technique by Richard E. Etheridge (1996) was used in preserving the macrofauna specimens
gathered in this activity. The technique involved five steps: euthanizing, injecting and slitting,
fixing, labeling and storage.
o Euthanizing – the first step to preservation is to euthanize the specimen leaving it
undamaged and its structures relaxed. This can be done by severing the nervous system
of the organism.
o Injection and slitting – The next step is to inject and administer a liquid preserving
solution into the specimen’s body cavity, limbs, and tail. This can be done via
hypodermic injection or injecting beneath the skin of the organism or injecting it inside
the slits of the body. In terms of preserving solutions, formalin and alcohol are the most
used. Formalin or the solution of formaldehyde gas (CH20) in water is usually diluted
with water and used at a strength of 10%. It is also considered inexpensive compared to
alcohol since only a small concentration is needed for most preservations. The
disadvantage of this preserving solution is that it is very toxic when inhaled or digested,
irritates the skin when exposed, and has an irritating odor. In addition, when a stronger
concentration is used, it tends to fade the specimen’s color as well as makes the
specimen brittle and therefore destroying the preserved sample. Since formalin is acidic,
a 10% buffering solution is recommended and also it must be contained within a
rustproof container. Alcohol, however, is generally more expensive and must be used at
full strength or high concentration (usually at 95%). Subsequently, if alcohol is stored in
an open container, it loses its strength due to evaporation. Specimens are also
vulnerable to rotting and disintegrating when stored with weaker concentrations of
alcohol.
o Fixing – After injecting the preserving solutions into the body of the specimen, the
specimen should be in a relaxed position and should be arranged in trays in order for
them to harden in the proper position.
o Labeling – The specimens now must be labeled with the accompanying data that is
either attached to its container with a number corresponding to a numbered tag tied to
the specimen or recorded within a notebook.
o Storage – after fixing and labeling, the specimen should be stored within a jar or
container containing the liquid preservative for a few days. Afterward, the specimen can
be taken out from the container with the preserving solution and placed in a sealed
plastic bag or it can also remain within the container.

- Another method of preservation is used for corals. Usually, the researchers only take videos and
still images of these coral specimens underwater. However, for study and research purposes, corals can
also be extracted from their habitat and be preserved. There are two methods in preserving corals, the
dried museum specimen or tissue fixation. For the dried museum specimen, the corals are hanged and
airdried for a week or more. This is to preserve the general morphology of the coral. However, the
tissues are not viable for specimen live viewing. For the tissue fixation method in corals, a preservation
solution is injected into the specimen’s body and 10% formalin, or 95% alcohol is typically used as liquid
preservatives. In this method, the whole structure of the coral is intact and can be viewed live for
specimen viewing (Lopez, 2006).

- For the macrophytes such as the seaweeds, another method is done which is pressing. In this
technique, the seaweed is technically pressed flat into a paper or any film-like material in order to
preserve the entire external morphology of the specimen (Wright, 2017).

References

Etheridge, R. (2006). Preservation techniques. Museum of Zoology. Retrieved from


https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/herps/collections/preservation-techniques.html

Lopez, J. V. (2006). Some Preservation Techniques for (Deep Water) Coral Samples for Subsequent
Molecular Studies: A Special Supplement from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. NOAA
Technical Memorandum; Office of Ocean Exploration. US Department of Commerce, 33.

Wright, S. J. (2017). The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: Preservation of Seaweeds. Biological
Conservation, 252, 108858.

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