Effectiveness of alternative organic solvents in field preservation of whole barnacles for PCR analyses

There are few reports of non-cryogenic preservation methods for marine invertebrates, so potable alcohol and acetone-based nail varnish remover (NVR) are for the ¢rst time evaluated against absolute ethanol as short-term preservatives of whole barnacles. Performance of ethanol and NVR-preserved material was comparable, but potable alcohol was signi¢cantly worse. These results are of practical importance for ¢eldwork in remote areas where laboratory chemicals are unattainable but potable alcohol or NVR are locally available. Of these, acetone-based NVR would be the solvent of preference.