Invertebrate Collections

We only know a fraction of what lives in the oceans. But much of what has been discovered so far is preserved in our collections of recent invertebrates: from colorful sponges from South America, to tiny Antarctic crustaceans, and molluscs systematically collected in Belgian territorial waters, bearing witness to a changing environment.

This collection comprises an incredible 15 million specimens, tissues and slide mounts of species that are either extant or that went extinct during the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years ago to the present).

The recent invertebrate collection is incredibly diverse, containing sponges, corals, starfish, crustaceans, jellyfish, rotifers, leeches, and much more.

There are “dry” collections and “wet” collections. The wet collections consist of an estimated half a million jars and tubes of specimens mainly preserved in alcohol. The majority of the dry collections are made up of shells – approximately ten million specimens. One of the most important shell collections is that of 19th century amateur collector Philippe Dautzenberg, who also left behind a rich archive of historical books.

The wet collections: a half a million jars and tubes conserving invertebrate species in alcohol. (Photo: Thierry Hubin, RBINS)

The dry collections: ten million of specimens, mostly shells from over the whole world. (Photo: Thierry Hubin, RBINS)

Value to science

The invertebrate collections are invaluable to taxonomy and systematic biology. They contain tens of thousands of type specimens, which are the benchmarks used when describing a species. The other 15 million 'voucher’ specimens are also important for understanding and describing morphological variation within and between species – and increasingly also genetic variation. Biologists can therefore study the evolutionary relationships between organisms, including relationships with extinct species.

Perhaps surprisingly, this treasure trove still contains a vast amount of as-yet-undescribed or wrongly classified biodiversity. The collections are also becoming increasingly important for environmental studies, exploring the impact of humans on biodiversity, and the effects of climate change on organisms and ecosystems. Just think about how collections alone can demonstrate shifts in the distribution and occurrence of species due to altered temperatures.

A drawer with a collection of corals. — A collection of corals. (Photo: Danny Gys)

15

million specimens

8

store rooms

40,000

species in the Dautzenberg collection

500,000

jars and tubes
(preserved in alcohol)