Description of the collections of the Invertebrate Department

During the past two centruries, the Second (= Invertebrate) Department has primarily paid attention to the study of marine invertebrates. This is mainly due to the history of the Danish Kingdom, its navy, its overseas trading activity and its past interest in colonies. The collections go back to pre-Linnean times. Geographically, the collections are strong in areas around The Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, the West Indies, and of course for Danish waters. Many expeditions have supplied material, both from the deep sea, open sea and shallow waters, e.g., shipborn expeditions such as the Galathea, Dana, Ingolf, Godthåb, or led by prominent scientists such as Forsskål, Th. Mortensen, C.G.Joh. Petersen, and G. Thorson.

The most important parts of the collections are the type collections, and its cataloguing is still going on. The collection holds many types from the late 18th century and early 19th century. At that time specimens were traded, sold at auctions, exchanged and even looted. Many of these are types, and in order to reduce the amount of nomenclatorial and taxonomical confusion the old collections are still searched for valid types, which also demands the University's good old library. The following gives a survey of the individual systematic parts of the collection.

Protozoa

The most significant part of the Protozoa section is a rather complete collection of Xenophyophora, including many types, originating from the Galathea expedition, and greatly extended over time through gifts, exchanges, and depositions. Foraminifers from collections initiated from the ZMUC are mostly in the foraminifer collection of the Institute of Historical Geology and Paleontology, University of Copenhagen. Other protozoan groups are insignificantly represented in the collections.

Current research: Taxonomy, zoogeography and biology of xenophyophores worldwide.

Porifera

The collection centers on the North Atlantic, deep-sea worldwide, and Antarctica. Especially significant with respect to type material are the collections from the Danish Ingolf Expedition 1895-96 (W. Lundbeck) and the Galathea Expedition 1950-52 (C. L‚vi). Material from other parts of the world originates mainly from Th. Mortensen's expeditions (shallow-water material, only partly worked up, New Zealand, H. Brøndsted) and Antarctica (Barthel & Tendal).

Current research: Very comprehensive bodies of material from the Greenland shelf and slope, taken between 1930 and 1995, are being worked up, together with collections from the BIOFAR and BIOICE projects, Scandinavia, and the Gulf of Maine. Material from all over the deep parts of the Greenland-Norwegian Sea is treated separately. Another line of work is Antarctic sponges, especially from the Weddell Sea.

Cnidaria

For Hydromedusae the coverage is worldwide through the Dana expeditions, and the collection comprises a large number of types (P. Kramp). The hydropolyp collection is very representative for the North Atlantic, and this is the case also for both main groups of Anthozoa. Large numbers of tropical octocorals (mostly undetermined) originate from the Th. Mortensen expeditions. From older times, the Hexacorallia, mostly from the Caribbean area, are richly represented, but provided only with scanty sampling information.

Current research: The taxonomy, zoogeography and relationships with other faunas of northern octocorals and scleractinians.

Platyhelminthes, Aschelminthes, and Proarthropods

Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (ZMUC) has a long history in the study of "Lower Worms" (Platyhelminthes, Nemertina and Aschelminthes) and the so-called Proarthropods (Tardigrada, Onychophora and Pentastomida).

Particularly significant are the type materials of former curators, including the large collections of Levinsen (Trematoda), Krabbe (Cestoda) and Ditlevsen (Nematoda). Especially the collection of Ditlevsen (about 7000 microslides) is one of the earliest collections of free- living nematodes in the world, and historically this microslide collection is very important, as it dates from early this century.

The collection of proarthropods also contains important material from several major expeditions in which ZMUC has been involved. Especially the small Onychophora collection has been lent several times. The terrestrial onychophorans are now all treated as endangered species. The ZMUC collection contains 21 described and 3 undescribed species of the total of 90 species that are known in the world. The tardigrade collections are perhaps the most important collections held anywhere in the world, partly because they include both the marine, limnic and terrestrial type materials of Thulin (1911, 1928) and Pedersen (1951), but also because of the sheer size of this collection, with more than 20,000 microslides containing about half of all the 700 described species of the phylum.

ZMUC has the type material of the first described loriciferan, Nanaloricus mysticus and the other eight described species of this recently described phylum. Furthermore the loriciferan collection of ZMUC includes 73 undescribed species collected especially from the deep sea and polar regions.

The type material of Symbion pandorae, the only described species of the most recently described phylum, Cycliophora, is also housed in the ZMUC.

Current research: Taxonomy and phylogeny of Aschelminthes, with particular emphasis on Gnathostomulida, Kinorhyncha and Loricifera. Monographic studies on Loricifera from Roscoff (France) and the Faroes Bank (North Atlantic). Description of a new group of Aschelminthes from homothermic springs (Greenland). Recent and forthcoming collections: Marine tardigrades from the eastern coast of Australia, especially from coral sand (R.M. Kristensen). - Embryology of Tardigrada (Jette Eibye-Jacobsen).

"Vermes" (phyla consisting primarily of macrofauna)

This section of the museum houses the collections of five phyla: Annelida (including Pogonophora and thus also Vestimentifera), Echiura, Sipuncula, Priapula, and Chaetognatha. Among them, emphasis in collection and research has historically been placed on the polychaetous annelids, although present holdings of some of the other groups are considerable in size and scope. For this reason, the following historical review and description of the collections will be based primarily on the former group, with others being mentioned as appropriate.

Historical background: The origins of the "worm" collection of the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen can be traced to the 17th Century, but the first truly large contributions derive from the sampling efforts of various workers in Greenland during the end of the 18th Century (published on primarily by Fabricius and O. F. Müller) and in the Danish West Indies during the first half of the 19th Century (published on by Krøyer, Mörch, Ørsted and Grube).

Since that time, the major source of material for the collections has been the participation of Danish zoologists in various expeditions. Several of these expeditions concentrated on Greenland or other areas of the North Atlantic (e.g., Dijmphna, Tjalfe and Ingolf), whereas others were more world-wide in scope (e.g., Dana, the various expeditions led by Th. Mortensen, Atlantide and Galathea).

Finally, the responsible curators of this century (Levinsen, Ditlevsen, Wesenberg-Lund, Kirkegaard, Eibye-Jacobsen) have further assured the growth of the collections through the sampling efforts of specific individuals (in recent times most notably Rasmussen, Petersen and Eibye-Jacobsen) and the extensive exchange of material with other, similar institutions throughout the world.

The collections: The polychaete collections are presently estimated to consist of about 100,000 lots. Registration of the type material, as well as newly accessed and other particularly valuable material, is presently being carried out. On this basis it is estimated that these collections contain the type specimens of about 400 species. The material comes from a multitude of sources, many of which were mentioned above. The geographical areas in which the collection has particular strengths are Denmark, the North Atlantic, Greenland, the east coast of the United States, the Caribbean, West Africa, South Africa, the Persian Gulf, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific coast of Central America. The collections are remarkable in containing a great deal of material from some of the deepest regions of the world's oceans.

Systematic representation is broad for almost all known families of polychaetes, but especially outstanding in Nereididae, Phyllodocidae, Cirratulidae, Chaetopteridae, Sabellidae and Serpulidae, as well as in most holoplanktonic families. Of great potential value are the large numbers of as yet unidentified lots from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, primarily collected during the various expeditions led by Th. Mortensen.

The holdings of the other main group of annelids, the Clitellata (oligochaetes and hirudineans), contain about 20,000 lots (approximately 50 types). Representation is particularly good for the fauna of Denmark and West Africa due to recent collection efforts (Clausen).

The Vermes section contains about 5,000 lots of Echiura, Sipuncula and Priapula, most of which were collected in the present century. The most significant part of these collections is the echiurid and sipunculid material (especially from the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, West Africa and the Indian Ocean) that was worked up and published on by Wesenberg-Lund, including the type material of about 30 species.

Holdings of the small annelid group Pogonophora (including Vestimentifera) are considerable, encompassing approximately 1,000 lots. The most notable components of this collection are extensive pogonophoran material from the Skagerrak (including the type material of several species described by Kirkegaard) and a few extremely well preserved vestimentiferans (Riftia) from hydrothermal vents of the West Pacific.

Finally, the museum's collection of the primarily planktonic phylum Chaetognatha is considerable in size, containing about 1,000 lots. This collection is largely composed of unidentified material from the South Atlantic, in excellent condition and of great potential value to taxonomists. Much of the material was collected during the Dana, Godthaab and Thor expeditions.

Current research: Systematic and comparative anatomical investigations into the interrelationships of Polychaeta at the family level (Eibye-Jacobsen). - Taxonomic and revisional work on various families of Polychaeta (Eibye-Jacobsen, Petersen). - Faunistic/taxonomic work on Polychaeta from Iceland and the Faroe Islands (Eibye-Jacobsen, Kirkegaard, Petersen), Denmark (Eibye-Jacobsen, Kirkegaard), Arctic Canada (Eibye-Jacobsen), the east coast of the United States (Petersen), St. Helena (Kirkegaard) and Thailand (Eibye-Jacobsen, Petersen). - Morphological and anatomical studies of Spionidae, Polychaeta (Worsaae, Jelsing). - Taxonomic and anatomical investigations on Oligochaeta, primarily from West Africa (Clausen).

Mollusca

The collection of molluscs is one of the more important of the large, old collections in Europe, going back to King Frederik III's "Kunstkammer" from the 1650's. Greater collectors were: L. Spengler, C.F. Schumacher, Count A.G. Moltke, and King Christian VIII. In the collection are not only types, but also original specimens for descriptions and illustrations in many publications, for instance: Regenfuss 1758, Chemnitz & Martini 1769-1829, Fabricius 1780, Forsskål 17??.

The collections of Cephalopoda and Ophistobranchia are especially well represented and the collection of prosobranch eggmasses is worth mentioning.

Crustacea

Denmark has had a long and illustrious history in the study of the Crustacea. The collection held here is one of the largest and historically most important collections of Crustacea held anywhere in the world. The collection dates back to the immediate post Linnaean period, from the time of the Peter Forsskål expedition to 'Arabia Felix' in 1761, and reflects the global perspective of the institution and the many eminent workers who have made contributions. Former curators were H.N. Krøyer (1799-1870), F.V.A. Meinert (1833-1912), H.J. Hansen (1855-1936), K.H. Stephensen (1882-1947), U. Røen (1925-1997), T. Wolff (1919- ), Jean Just (1938- ) and N.L. Bruce (1952- ). Other Danish contributors of major historical or contemporary significance are I.C. Fabricius (1744- 1822), J.M.C. Schiødte (1815-1884) and G.H.A. Budde-Lund (1846-1911).

The collection also contains material from several major expeditions carried out by, or with the major involvement of the ZMUC. These were the Ingolf Expedition (North Atlantic, deep-sea; 1895-96), the Dana Expedition (world oceans, pelagic; 1928-30), the Atlantide Expedition (West Africa, shelf; 1945-46), the Galathea Expedition (world oceans, deep sea; 1952-53), and the voluminous material, mostly from shallow water, collected around the world by Th. Mortensen between 1899 and 1930. Much of this material has been published on, both in expedition reports and in scientific journals.

The Collection: From the time of Schiødte and Meinert, research emphasis has been on the peracarid crustaceans, particularly the orders Isopoda and Amphipoda, a tradition that has continued to the present day. Most major crustacean taxa have at some time received attention. Notwithstanding, the collections of Copepoda, Ostracoda and Cladocera are extensive, and all crustacean groups are well represented. The number of identified species in the collection has been estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000 species. The number of species represented with type specimens is about 2,500. The total number of specimen lots identified to family or lower ranks (species, genus) is in the order of 500, 000 to 800,000, with about 80,000 to 120,000 of these having been identified to species. Estimates for some particular crustacean groups, including both identified and unidentified, give an indication of the extent of the collections: Copepoda, c. 252,000 lots; Ostracoda, c. 125,000 lots; Isopoda, c. 30,000 lots; Amphipoda, c. 120,000 lots; Decapoda, c. 65,000 lots.

Particularly significant type material includes the large collections of I.C. Fabricius, Krøyer, Budde-Lund, and Stephensen, and the type material originating from the Dana and Galathea expedition collections.

Personnel: Jørgen Olesen (curator), Bjarne Bisballe (curatorial assistant) and Torben Wolff (former curator).

Entoprocta

An important collection of material from Scandinavia and Florida, including a number of types of the family Loxosomatidae (C. Nielsen). Scattered samples of identified and unidentified material from various parts of the world.

Ectoprocta = Bryozoa

A large and important collection of material from all over the world; about two thirds are in alcohol, the rest is dry. Identified material has formed the basis for numerous papers by, e.g., A. Livingstone (Mortensen's exped.), G.M.R. Levinsen, E. Marcus (Danmarks Fauna), K. Bille Hansen (Faroe Islands), P. Cook (Atlantide exped.), and P. Hayward (Galathea exped., BIOFAR).

There is a card catalog for all the identified specimens.

There are also large unidentified collections from Scandinavia, Greenland, SE-Asia, and many other localities scattered all over the world.

G.M.R. Levinsen's material of Cretaceous cheilostomes is kept as a separate collection.

Phoronida

A small collection.

Brachiopoda

A rather small collection of identified and unidentified material. About half of the collection is in alcohol, the other half dry.

Pterobranchia

A small collection with well preserved material collected during the German expeditions Polarstern 14 and EPOS III.

Enteropneusta

A small collection; some samples identified by van der Horst. A collection of tornaria-larvae described by Stiasny.

Urochordata

A large collection with material from many expeditions, including many types.

Larvacea: A small, mainly unidentified collection.

Thaliacea: Large collections from a number of expeditions (esp. Dana), partly treated by Traustedt, v.Soest and Godeaux.

Ascidiacea: Large collections treated in papers by Traustedt and Michaelsen; and collections from a number of expeditions: Ingolf (Hartmeyer), Dana (Millar), Atlantide (Millar), Galathea (Millar).

Echinoderms

Historical background: The large echinoderm collection in the Zoological Museum originates from the Danish expeditions to the Atlantic, Arctic and worldwide Seas, and from scientists on own expeditions and studies at marine laboratories in different parts of the world. Some of the old specimens are gifts from collectors and museums, other old specimens are exchange specimens from museums and collectors, and finally, other specimens have been bought from collectors. But the main part of the echinoderm collection originates from the international echinoderm specialist Dr. Th. Mortensen's worldwide expeditions and from his research visits to marine laboratories all over the world in the years 1890-1939; other large collections originate from a number of Greenland expeditions, and from the North Atlantic Ingolf expedition (1895- 96) and the Galathea expedition (1950-52). New material of echinoderms is added to the collection from scientists, who have been guest scientists on international expeditions.

One of the oldest specimens in the echinoderm collection is O.F. Müller's holotype of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis from off Drøbak, Norway (1776).

The collection, size and diversity: Zoological Museum's echinoderm collection is one of the three largest collections in the world. It contains ca. 3731 identified species of the known recent ca. 6300 species in the world, including 613 holotypes and a large number of paratypes.

The collection consists of dry and wet specimens, a large number of slides (holothurian ossicles, echinoid and asteroid pedicellariae, larvae and histological sections of a number of echinoderms).

The specimens in the collection are well preserved and well kept. This is due to the long tradition in the museum (1851-1986) of having a responsible echinoderm specialist as curator, who studies specimens from the collection, knows the scientific value of the specimens, and knows how to handle and take care of a museum collection. The echinoderm collection is one of the most valuable documentary collections in the world.

Scientific value of the collection: Echinoderms have fascinated human beings for centuries and Scandinavian scientists had studied echinoderms since the eighteenth century (O.F. Müller, J.E. Gunnerus and C. Linn‚). Studies of fossil and recent echinoderms developed in the following centuries, and scientific studies of echinoderms became an important research field in the Zoological Museum in the middle of the nineteenth century (Prof. Jap. Steenstrup (1846-55) and Dr. Chr. Lütken (1851-1899)). Dr. Th. Mortensen started his echinoderm studies in 1890 and he raised the scientific study of echinoderms in the Zoological Museum to a high international standard in the years 1899-1939. Dr. F.J. Madsen followed up the international standard of echinoderm studies, and he was the echinoderm specialist and curator for the echinoderm collection from 1945 to 1986.

Value of the echinoderm collection: The collection consists of a large number of species from all over the world, and it contains a number of specimens of each species. The specimens appear in a good preserved (wet) and dry condition. Moreover, ca. 90% of all described recent echinoderm species are represented in the echinoderm collection of the Zoological Museum, and a large number of holotypes and paratypes are included in the collection. All the above mentioned facts show that the collection is of high scientific value.

Studies of echinoderms include the classical disciplines: morphology, histology, embryology, systematics, phylogenetics, zoogeography, ecology and behaviour. New disciplines of study include molecular biology, gene technology and biochemistry. All scientific lines are, however, linked to basic systematic and phylogenetic studies.

Scientists working in new technological sciences require new studies of echinoderms in the classical disciplines to support their results. This shows that a large collection of well kept echinoderms is of high scientific value to new international echinoderm studies. Finally, a collection of recent species of echinoderms is of high value for palaeontological studies.