FWC Fish And Wildlife Research Institute issued the following announcement on May 18.
Color can be the most striking feature of many animals. And while colors can be beautiful, they often don’t last. Preservatives like ethanol can keep specimen DNA in excellent condition, but most specimen colors fade with time. After about 1.5 years in ethanol, this fiery orange sponge turned a muted beige.
That’s why taxonomists don’t rely on color when identifying museum specimens. Instead, they focus on structures that don’t fade like the number of spines on a claw or the patterning and shape of a shell.
Find out more about the specimens in FWRI’s Florida Biodiversity Collection: myfwc.com/research/saltwater/specimen-collections/aboutsis/
Original source can be found here.
Source: FWC Fish And Wildlife Research Institute
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