C 0.0

Five groups, and why they stay apart

A preserved specimen is a storage problem. A living culture is a calendar problem. An instrument is neither. They are priced, packed and shipped differently, so each one has its own page rather than a shared paragraph.

Preserved Vertebrates

Frogs, fetal pigs, cats, rats, mink, perch, sharks and the rest of the dissection sequence, at the injection grade the lesson actually needs.

76 items · plain to triple-injected

Preserved Invertebrates

Earthworms, crayfish, grasshoppers, squid, starfish, clams and the survey sets that carry a whole phylum sequence in one order.

59 items · phylum sets available

Living Cultures

Algae, protozoa, bacteria, fungi, plants and live invertebrates, shipped on a calendar set by the organism rather than by the warehouse.

135 items · ships Mon–Wed only

Owl Pellets

Sterilised barn owl pellets in first and second quality, which are different products for different lessons and are priced separately.

5 items · two quality grades

Dissection Instruments & Lab Supplies

Scalpels, scissors, probes, forceps, pins and trays, and the assembled student and instructor sets built from them.

39 items · assembled sets

Every group is priced on its own page and all five are priced together on the price page, which is the one to print for a purchasing office.

C 0.1 The key

Or key it out

The same five groups, reached by answering questions about the lesson rather than by guessing which heading a specimen lives under. This is the whole catalogue in seven couplets.

Couplet 1
Start here.
- 1aI need a specimen or a culture — something that was alive.go to 2
- 1bI need the instrument, tray or supply the lab works with.Dissection Instruments & Lab Supplies39 items catalogued
Couplet 2
Preserved and living part company first, because their shipping is different.
- 2aThe material will be opened, cut or teased apart.go to 3
- 2bThe organism must arrive alive and growing.go to 7
Couplet 3
Two quite different preserved products, both dissected in a school lab.
- 3aThe material is a preserved animal.go to 4
- 3bThe material is a sterilised owl pellet.go to 6
Couplet 4
The oldest couplet in the trade, and still the one that sets the band.
- 4aThe specimen has a backbone.go to 5
- 4bThe specimen has no backbone.Preserved Invertebrates$2.15–$18.40 each
Couplet 5
The couplet most requisitions skip, and the one that decides what the lesson can show.
- 5aThe circulatory system is part of the lesson.Preserved Vertebrates · injected$8.40–$95.00 each
- 5bOnly gross organs and external anatomy.Preserved Vertebrates · plain$3.20–$46.00 each
Couplet 6
Two quality grades that are genuinely different products.
- 6aHanded out whole, one per student.Owl Pellets · first quality$3.75 each
- 6bFor a bone-sorting exercise.Owl Pellets · second quality$1.10–$1.40 each
Couplet 7
Everything below this couplet ships Monday to Wednesday only.
- 7aThe culture is a microorganism.Living Cultures · microbial$11.40–$26.00 per culture
- 7bThe culture is a plant or a live invertebrate.Living Cultures · plants & invertebrates$9.60–$60.00 by pack

Figures at a terminal are catalogue ranges across that group, reviewed September 2026. Item-level prices are on each group's own page.

C 0.2 Before you order

Three pages worth reading before a first order

None of these is long, and each one settles a question that otherwise gets settled by whoever picks your order.

Specifying

Grades & injection What plain, single, double and triple actually mean, and which lesson needs which. Holding fluid & safety Formalin-fixed against formalin-free, ventilation, handling and disposal. Substitutions What happens when an item is short, and why nothing is swapped without asking.

Not sure which group it lives in?

Describe the lesson and we will find it. Most of what a teaching lab needs is in one of the five groups above, and the rest we can usually source.

Niles Biological, Inc. · 9298 Elder Creek Rd, Sacramento, CA 95829

Call (916) 386-2665

Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–4:30 PM PT