Preparing fossil fish for the amature collector

I have discovered that there is a great deal of information lacking to the amature fossil fish collector as to how to prepare collected fish.  We shall see if we can help a little bit.

If you have a fossil fish from Wyoming, there are spilt fish and 18 inch layer fish that can be cleaned. My Currant Creek Quarry is a combination of both but mostly the fish are similuar to the split fishes.  With the split fish being the most common that an amature would have in the collection we will work here. With the spilt fish, a scribe, exacto knife from Walmart (or ebay), a dental pick, and a good soft gum rubber eraser are the basic tools, along with a good magnifying lens of 10X or better power. Lighting and a comfortable work area are also important.  With the Kemmerer fish from the split layer, BE EXTREMELY GENTLY OR YOU WILL SCRATCH AWAY ALL OF YOUR FISH.  A hand dremel took works very well but MAY remove material too fast to prevent removing part of the fish you wish to keep!

"SCRATCH AND BLOW"  is the common term for the method of hand cleaning that works best. This can be very relaxing and is as much fun-if not more, than digging once a person succeeds on the first specimen. The fish is scratched to expose the best of the bone structure in the specimen, the rubber eraser is used to polish off the remaining silt covering anything that is not bone that is left on the surface. A final dip in a solution of 10% elmers glue and water will seal the specimen and offer some additional protection from wear and tear. Once protected, one can display and expect it to be handled and appreciated, or one can frame the specimen and hang it up for admiration. With the fragility of fish specimens, there is some reason for protecting even though rocks are tactile and should be held to be appreciated.  If it sounds really simple, it is! Scratch and blow away the dust.

A book such as Bulletin 63, Paleontology Of The Green River Formation, With A Review Of The Fish Fauna, 2nd. Ed. Lance Grande, covering the bone structure of specific fish types found in the Green River formation will help the novice in sorting out bone from dusty fill-in of the specimen.

My about me page has my web site link, fishdig.com with pictures of the fish as they come from the quarry for your viewing delight. Closing in on a top 500 reviewer standing with your help! One in 50 of the 556 viewers  voted.

mjwy