Ethylene Glycol as a Preservative for Marine Organisms

Abstract

MARINE plants and animals required for identification or anatomical studies are usually preserved in a 70 per cent aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol or in a 2–4 per cent solution of formaldehyde (5–10 per cent formalin). The great disadvantages of ethyl alcohol are that it volatilizes very readily, it tends to produce precipitates from sea-water, and it causes shrinkage of many species. Although formalin evaporates less rapidly than ethyl alcohol, precautions to prevent desiccation are still necessary; it has the further disadvantage that it tends to oxidize to formic acid, which may dissolve calcareous structures, and it has a very strong smell.