[Histonet] Land snail dissection.

[Philip Oshel]

Greg,

Yep, we've got an Animal Care Committee here at Univ. Wisconsin, and 
all the rest. They -- and most such entities in the US -- just don't 
care about anything that doesn't have a backbone.
Besides, MgCl2 and cooling *are* anesthesia for snails, as well as 
some crustiaceans at least (my own critters, if a I had a job doing 
critters, instead of running microscopes for biomedical types). 
MS-222 might work on aquatic snails, but not on land ones.
CO2/CO might work on Pulmonates, come to think of it (land snails are 
Pulmonates).
I have to agree with anesthetizing lobsters before dropping them in 
the boiling water, though -- I've never believed that they don't feel 
the boiling.

Phil

>Dear Phil (and others),
>
>All this talk of ripping open snail shells, injecting with MgCl2 and
>heaven forbid, fixing alive! Does anyone else out there have to work
>within the constraints of an Animal Care Committee?
>
>Some of you might be interested to hear that in a an academic
>setting, all procedures carried out on research animals (be it
>crustacean, fish, avian or mammalian) have to be approved under
>guidelines for ethical and humane use and care of animals for
>research. For instance, while I have no objection to boiling my
>lobsters alive at home, at work, lobsters must me properly
>anesthetized prior to humane euthanasia! It's a strange world we
>work in by times!
>Cheers!
>Greg
>
>Date sent:      	Wed, 08 Sep 2004 15:38:30 -0500
>From:           	Philip Oshel <peoshel <@t> wisc.edu>
>To:             	Histonet <@t> Pathology.swmed.edu
>Copies to:      	Subject:        	RE: [Histonet] Land 
>snail dissection.
>
>>  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
>
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Greg Dobbin
>Pathology Lab
>Atlantic Veterinary College, U.P.E.I.
>550 University Ave.
>Charlottetown, P.E.I.
>Canada,  C1A 4P3
>Phone: (902)566-0744
>Fax: (902)566-0851
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

-- 
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)