Table top vice suitable for controlled breaking of shell without crushing soft parts. (See flic.kr/s/aHskNP6GoL for how to examine anatomy without harming the animal.)
Specimens can be killed instantly by plunging into boiling water, or by leaving in a freezer overnight, or by gradually adding Magnesium chloride or Magnesium sulphate crystals to the water in a small container to first anaesthetize and then kill them. The only dissection required is to carefully crush the shell in a tabletop vice with any rubber protectors removed, avoiding damage to the soft parts, and to pick off the broken fragments. All these methods result in some contraction of the penis, but the results should be similar to dissections illustrated in reference works .
Full account at: 02 Differentiation L. obtusata/L. fabalis
03 Differentiation L. obtusata/L. fabalis
