Darkfield light micrograph of live Skeletonema costatum and Melosira nummoloides,diatoms collected in Herdlefjorden, western Norway. Dr. Per R. Flood of Bathybiologica A/S, Norway
The Museum's diatom collection is one of the largest in the world, containing over 300,000 specimens accumulated from the early nineteenth century to the present day.
Specimens
- 300,000
Type specimens
- 12,000
Species
- 20,000
Strengths
The collections are a crucial resource for modern research, diatom specimens are used to answer scientific questions about areas as diverse as climate change and phylogenetic relationships.
The collections are extremely geographically and taxonomically diverse, containing representatives from freshwater, brackish and marine environments.
All major diatom groups, both fossil and recent, are represented.
The comprehensive assortment of fossil specimens, includes one of the best representations of Cretaceous diatoms.
Type specimens
- Estimated 12,000
- Confirmed 5,000
Material type
- Slide collections 150,000
- Bottle collection 35,000
- Herbarium sheets 4,500
- Fossil diatoms (rocks and sediments) 1,500
- Lantern slides 1,000
Other resources
Archives
- Handwritten notes
- Letters
- Sketches
- Drawings
- Index card files
Images
- LM micrographs
- SEM images
Other
- SEM stubs and strews
Looking for a specific specimen?
The Diatom collection is being digitised
Major collections
The Museum's diatom collection has a large number of special collections and materials. The slides are mainly organised by diatomists who put that particular collection together as well as slides/materials of other diatomists.
Other important collections
Published sets
- Tempére & Peragallo (Diatomeés du monde entier, 1st and 2nd editions)
- Cleve & Möller (Diatoms, 1877-1882)
- H.L. Smith (Diatomacearum species typicae, 1876-1888)
- G. L. Rabenhorst (Die algen sachsens, 1848-1860; Die Bacillarien sachsens. Ein beitrag zur fauna von sachsen,1849-1852)
- Hamilton, Poulin, Charles & Angell (Americanarum diatomarum exsiccate, 1992-1994)
- Tuji (Algae aquae dulcis japonicae exsiccatae, 2007)
Important collectors
- Robert Kaye Greville - 1794-1866
- William Gregory (1803-1858)
- Friedrich Traugott Kützing (1807-1893)
- William Smith (1853-1856)
- Frederic Kitton (1885)
- John R. Carter
- Norman Hendey
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Scanning electron microscope image (coloured artificially by computer) showing the diatom Amphitetras with its ornate silica shell.
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Photograph of a diatom specimen found off the coast of Hong Kong. Diatoms are abundant in marine ecosystems.
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Scanning electron microscope image of a fossil marine diatom showing the ornate silica shell
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Scanning electron microscope image of a diatom showing the ornate silica shell
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Scanning electron microscope image of a fossil marine diatom showing the ornate silica shell
Country of origin
Collections are extremely geographically diverse. Parts of the slide collection are assembled from particular geographic localities or expeditions eg
- Russia (Lake Baikal in Siberia)
- Indonesia (Lake Toba, Sumatra)
- Jamaica
- Philippines
Accessing the collections
Scientists and collections management specialists can visit the collections and borrow specimens for research.
Collections management
Our duty is to provide a safe and secure environment for all of our collections.