In all samples, the calcareous spicules remained intact
and fully distinguishable, regardless of
whether the animal was fresh, salted or dried. No
changes in the proportion, size or shape of the different
spicules or were observed between the different
processing stages.
Commonly used taxonomic characters include the
shape and composition of the spicules embedded in
the body wall, as well as other morphological characters
such as the presence or absence of Cuverian
tubules and the shape of the calcareous ring
(Uthicke et al. 2004). In the case of I. fuscus in the
Galapagos, only the spicules were used, proving
their usefulness to identify this species under different
processing methods. The spicules remained intact,
with little fractioning (especially of the plates),
and the proportion of different types of spicules did
not differ between the processing stages.