Guide to the identification of marine plants and invertebrate animals ...

have 5% forrnal-dehyde sol-ution added to them. These
individual containers of specimens may collectively be
seal-ed in a can and kept in a cool, dark place. They
may then be studied in naturaf cofor, folm, and texture.
Be sure to l-abel- properly with all pertinent information
such as exact habitat, locality, date, coll-ectorrs name,
name of plant, and name of the person who identified it.
The col-lector may wait to preserve hi-s specimens until- he
returns to the l-aboratory but the results wil-l- not be as
good or lasting.
I lht tf hd
Crustose specimens may be dried along with pleces
of their substrate directly in the air and stored in
suitabl-e, labeled boxes. Cal-careous algae which are too
fragile or too thick to be pressed may be treated by being
soaked for several weeks in a solutj-on of 40% glycerine
in *rr 3% v/v formalin. rln-ied-in ain and stored in l-abeled boxes.
Herbarium \nanr mon q
-9-
Preservati-on of marine algae in liquid is at best a
temporary measure, with a few exceptions. Speci-mens preserved
in liquid tend to fade very rapidly if l-eft j-n
the tight (even an hour in the light wil-l- cause noticeable
fading). If kept in the dark, f ormal-dehyde-preserved
specimens wil-L keep their eolor for several months,
especially if the sol-ution is buffered, and these may
then be made into herbarium specimens at any time. The
sooner after preservation in liquid that herbarium mounts
-*^ --r^ *L^ lretter
clr g llto.uE 9 Ll lE r is the color.
Once mounted on a sheet dnd dried, specimens of
marine algae keep indefinitely and their cofor is preserved
indefi-nitely if kept in the dark. If framed and used as
a walJ- decoration, the color wiJ-J- fade in a few years.
In direct sunlight, of course, the cofor fades rapidly
even with herbarium specimens. There are many specimens
wetl- over l-00 years ol-d in the large herbaria that are
as coforful- as they were when first mounted.
For satisfactory and attractive herbarium specimens,
the fol-l-owing procedure is recommended.
Tvpe of Paper. Index cards of various sizes are
satisFictory. The only disadvantage to this type of