[Histonet] Land snail dissection.

Wed Sep 8 15:38:30 CDT 2004

Yep, CaCO3.
Also yes.
But, why bother with decalification? Just play crab and crack the 
shell open. The snail can be removed alive, if unhappy. I'd put it in 
MgCl2 first, then open the shell and remove the snail, cool it to 
further relax and anesthetize it, inject fixative into the mantle 
cavity (and possibly the hemocoel), then immersion-fix it. For 
sectioning, I'd dissect the snail into smaller pieces to insure 
proper fixation and infiltration paraffin -- they have a very tough, 
muscular foot, and the mantle can be as well.
The radula that Gayle referred to earlier is mostly keratin, but many 
snails deposit CaCO3 or other minerals (including iron, if I remember 
right) in the tips of the radular teeth -- either way, it will cause 
grief when paraffin sectioning. It'd be better to carefully dissect 
away the radula and mount it whole -- whole mounts of radulae are 
used in molluc taxonomy anyway. If you do want to section the radula, 
you will need to plastic embed it.

Phil

>Out of curiosity - is the shell made of calcium?  I'm asking because I
>really don't know - not a trick question?  Isn't a snail out of it's shell
>just a slug?
>(Now THAT is a joke.)
>
>
>Jackie O'
>
>
>Jacqueline M. O'Connor HT(ASCP)
>Abbott Laboratories
>Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development
>Discovery Chemotherapeutics
>847.938.4919
>Fax 847.938.3266
>
>
>
>
>Jose Luis Palazon Fernandez <jluis.palazon <@t> icman.csic.es>
>Sent by: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>09/08/2004 11:56 AM
>
>
>         To:     histonet <@t> pathology.swmed.edu
>         cc:
>         Subject:        Re: RE: [Histonet] Land snail dissection.
>
>
>If the snail is small I recomend you to fix the whole snail and after
>fixation, decalcify it with 10 % EDTA. then process and include the whole
>snail. Hope this help
>
>
>
>
>
>El dia 08/09/2004 18:23 usted envio el siguiente mensaje:
>
>>Date: 8 de Septiembre de 2004 18:23:01
>
>>From: "Smith, Allen" <asmith <@t> mail.barry.edu>
>
>>Subject: RE: [Histonet] Land snail dissection.
>
>>To: gcallis <@t> montana.edu, histonet <@t> pathology.swmed.edu
>
>>
>
>>  Many centuries ago, I forced a snail out of its shell by shredding a
>pack of
>
>>  cigarettes into a pint of water and dropping the snail into it.
>
>>  Borradaile's THE INVERTEBRATA has instructions for dissecting the
>European
>
>>  garden snail Helix pomatia (pp. 604-610 in the 4th edition).  The book
>is
>
>>  out of print, but available used.
>
>>
>
>>  Allen A. Smith, Ph.D.
>
>>  Professor of Anatomy
>
>>  Barry University
>
>>  School of Graduate Medical Sciences
>
>>              Podiatric Medicine and Surgery
>
>>  Miami Shores, Florida
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>  -----Original Message-----
>
>>  From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>
>>  [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Gayle
>Callis
>
>>  Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 10:56 AM
>
>>  To: andromeda_tm; Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>
>>  Subject: [Histonet] Land snail dissection.
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>  Becaue of the hard calcified shell, dissection was still difficult.  The
>
>
>>  snail didn't always relax all the way out of the shell.  I think we also
>
>
>>  used another way to relax snail, but do not recall what was used (many
>
>>  years ago!), as long as your method works, use it.
>
>>
>
>>  Since we could never get a snail totally out of shell (they don't give
>it
>
>>  up easily!), we fixed snails whole, then decalcified them with shells
>
>>  intact, and processed them into paraffin.  There is a "tooth" of some
>sort,
>
>>  I do not recall what my snail experts called it, but it can create
>problems
>
>>  during sectioning.  It was very hard and caused section damage.  There
>is
>
>>  always a possiblity that after you decalcify the shell, you can remove
>it
>
>>  very carefully to reach soft body parts.  We had wonderful sections with
>
>
>>  thin shell intact - a total histological preparation.
>
>>
>
>>  We decalcified in 10 to 15% formic acid after the snail was totally
>fixed.
>
>>
>
>>     At 04:48 AM 9/8/2004, you wrote:
>
>>  >Torino 08 September 2004
>
>>  >(ITALY)
>
>>  >
>
>>  >
>
>>  >Hi all,
>
>>  >
>
>>  >I am an amateur naturalist.
>
>>  >I like to study the histology of animal tissues by an optical
>microscope
>
>>  >in transmitted light.
>
>>  >I am interested to land (terrestrial) snails.
>
>>  >I know for relaxing the snail to use a solution of 50mM of MgCl2 by an
>
>>  >injection (2 ml.) into the foot.
>
>>  >Could someone give me some detailed information how to proceed to the
>
>>  >snail dissection?
>
>>  >Thank you.
>
>>  >With my Best Regards,
>
>>  >
>
>>  >Massimo
>
>>
>
>>  Gayle Callis
>
>>  MT,HT,HTL(ASCP)
>
>>  Research Histopathology Supervisor
>
>>  Veterinary Molecular Biology
>
>>  Montana State University - Bozeman
>
>>  PO Box 173610
>
>>  Bozeman MT 59717-3610
>
>>  406 994-6367 (lab with voice mail)
>
>>  406 994-4303 (FAX)
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>
>
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>>  Barry University - Miami Shores, FL (http://www.barry.edu)
>
>>
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>
>
>Universidad de Oriente-Isla Margarita-Venezuela
>
>actualmente en: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia
>
>Puerto Real, Cádiz, España.
>
>email: jluis.palazon <@t> icman.csic.es
>
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-- 
Philip Oshel
Supervisor, BBPIC microscopy facility
Department of Animal Sciences
University of Wisconsin
1675 Observatory Drive
Madison,  WI  53706 - 1284
voice: (608) 263-4162
fax: (608) 262-5157 (dept. fax)
-- 
Philip Oshel
Supervisor, BBPIC microscopy facility
Department of Animal Sciences
University of Wisconsin
1675 Observatory Drive
Madison,  WI  53706 - 1284
voice: (608) 263-4162
fax: (608) 262-5157 (dept. fax)