Things I may have said today

[rebeccmeister]

First, some random biologist questions:

1. Does anyone know if it's possible to use dermestid beetles on a horseshoe crab? Are there any other alternative methods?

2. What kind of tape(s) work best for taping down lizards?

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To S: "I still need to buy some balloons, some lizard tape, and some dental wax for the anal probes.*"



*The "anal probes" are thermocouples to measure reptile cloacal temperatures for a lab. This may or may not also be why I need lizard tape.

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This week we are going to measure some ventilatory characteristics of fish and reptiles, to characterize the thermal and environmental sensitivity of ventilation. So today I acquired some more reptiles (three anoles), and a whole bunch of fish: goldfish, betas, and two tropical varieties of types I don't remember right this minute.

Then I spent a whole bunch of time rampaging through the lab on a mad hunt for supplies and instruments: aquarium heaters, dissolved oxygen meters, displacement transducers, various thermocouple probes of different sizes, aquarium pumps and aerators, and more. We have an amazing collection of thermocouple probes because my predecessor used to run a lab that involved measuring the development of thermoregulation in rodents. That meant she needed really tiny thermocouples for really young hamster pups, then incrementally larger ones.

Gradually, I'm whipping things into shape in the physiology lab. Gradually. Also, I continue to be grateful to my predecessor for all of the things she acquired and left for me. While there are a number of organizational details for me to work out, overall this physiology lab is extremely well set up.

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Eventually I will remember to take photos of things.

Comments

[shalpacafarm]

Can you use those Velcro cord wraps? Their skin rips off super easily.

[myka]

sounds interesting and productive!

[randomdreams]

Dermestids on dead horseshoe crabs to clean them, presumably?

[randomdreams]

I just texted my dermestid expert. (She's taken multiple classes and done field research.)

[randomdreams]

Friend texted her prof, and official answer is: yes, they will do a fine job, but they are so aggressive they may puncture and eat softer/thinner parts of the shell. Fire ants are a better choice if keeping the shell completely intact is necessary.

[rebeccmeister]

Okay, cool, I hope you've conveyed gratitude! I'll have to see what we can do - I'd have to find a source for fire ants because they don't make it this far north. But in the meantime the crab's in a freezer, so there isn't a huge rush...

We're using the crab blood for a lab activity - characterizing oxygen dissociation curves. They've got a form of hemoglobin that's free in the blood (i.e. not contained in blood cells). Hopefully it will work...

[randomdreams]

So why do you have a bunch of horseshoe crabs, anyway? The main use for them I know of is blood extraction for biological assays.