Parasitic worms collection
We care for one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of parasitic worms in the world.
The parasitic worms section includes terrestrial and marine Platyhelminthes (flatworms), parasitic Nematoda (roundworms), Nematophorpha (horsehair worms) and Acanthocephala.
Find a specimen
The collections are being digitised and are accessible via the Data Portal.
Specimen numbers
Wet specimens
600,000
Slide preparations
180,000
Type specimens
~30% of the collection
About the collection
The collection has worldwide coverage and is particularly rich in material from Africa. We hold a large number of species that parasitize marine fishes from both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
There are many major personal collections including those of Harry Arnold Baylis, David R. Burt, Otto Fuhrmann, W.Grant Inglis, Clayton Lane, P. Le Roux, P.A. Maplestone, Stanislaw Markowski, F.J. Meggitt, Gwendolyn Rees, C.T.E. von Siebold, T. Southwell, W. Woodland, Mark Viney and Klaus Rohde.
Specimen breakdown by Phylum
- Platyhelminthes (flatworms):
- Cestoda, 135,000 (wet), 50,000 (slides)
- Monogenea, 1,600 (wet), 15,500 (slides)
- Tubellaria, 5,000 (wet), 7,000 (slides)
- Trematoda, 26,000 (wet), 45,000 (slides)
- Nematoda (roundworms): 85,000 (wet), 45,000 (slides)
- Nematomorpha (horsehair worms): 560 (wet), 560 (slides)
- Acanthocephala: 5,000 (wet), 700 (slides)
Important historical collections
- International Institute of Parasitology type collection
- Harry Arnold Baylis collection
- David R. Burt collection
- Otto Fuhrmann collection
- W. Grant Inglis collection
- P. Le Roux collection
Expedition material
- HMS Discovery Antarctic investigations (1925-1928)
- Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (B.A.N.Z.A.R.E.) (1929-1930)
- Terra Nova Antarctic expedition (1910-1913)
