Invertebrates
Shrimps, crabs and lobsters (decapods) from Southeast Asia, the Northeast Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea are among the highlights of the Crustacean collections. Curators, including L.B. Holthuis (1941-2008), have been actively involved in these groups since the museum was founded in 1820. During the last two decades research focussed on symbiontic shrimps.
The collection of stony corals (Scleractinia, Milleporidae and Stylasteridae) started to develop since the 1920's. Most material is from Indonesia, based on collections by Boschma, Umbgrove and Verweij and later on by Best, Moll and Hoeksema (1980-present). The collection of Fungiidae may be considered as the most comprehensive worldwide. Also the collection of soft corals (Alcyonacaea) can be considered the largest of the world. Stiasny (gorgoneans) and Verseveldt (soft corals) are just two of the scientists who worked on these collections.
An important part of the Coelenterate collection consists of Hydrozoa, especially because of the scientific activities of prof. W. Vervoort (1940-2010), former director of the museum.
More information on invertebrate collections
 |
Parasite Collection Utrecht In 2006 the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the University Museum of the University of Utrecht transferred their parasite collection to Naturalis. There the collection was restored, parasites were transferred to new vials and made accessible by a database, which is available for download here. |
Friday, September 2, 2011