Echinoderms (Echinodermata)
Ophiuroid brittle star specimens housed at the Natural History Museum. These invertebrates can occur in huge numbers on the deep ocean floor.
Echinoderms are represented in a number of collections of potential use for ocean acidification research:
- Chagos Islands coral, Discovery and HMS Challenger collections at the Natural History Museum
- Dry Invertebrate Store at the Zoology Museum, University of Cambridge
Chagos Islands coral collections
The Chagos archipelago lacks overfishing and pollution, making it potentially suitable for use as a global reference baseline for monitoring the impact of ocean acidification on local biota. Although this is predominantly a coral collection, some other taxa are included. Find out more.
Discovery collections
The Discovery collections originate from a number of different expeditions that took place from 1901-1999. The collection of pteropods may be of particular importance for ocean acidification research, and there are a wide variety of other marine specimens as well as ocean bottom deposits and residues. Learn more.
HMS Challenger collection
Scientists on the 1872-76 HMS Challenger expedition collected a vast amount of natural history material from around the globe, which is accompanied by extensive taxonomic and summary reports. Get information about the Challenger collections housed at the Natural History Museum.
Historical marine collections at:
- Natural History Museum, London
- Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
- British Geological Survey
- National Museums Scotland
- School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Wales
- Zoology Museum, University of Cambridge
The collections at these institutions were surveyed for the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme.