Major international collections
Photograph of a diatom specimen found off the coast of Hong Kong. Diatoms are abundant in marine ecosystems.
The Museum's diatom herbarium has many important 20th century collections from abroad.
Among the more recent acquisitions are specimens from:
- Lake Baikal, Siberia and Lake Toba, Sumatra - two ancient freshwater lakes
- Jamaica - both freshwater and marine collections
- the Philippine Isles - a comprehensive marine coastal collection
While active research has or is being carried out on these specimens, it is likely that many new species are yet to be described.