|
Specimens of marine invertebrates are numerically dominant in the collections, particularly reflecting research and inventories in the North Atlantic by Bergen zoologists and international partners. Historically important expeditions like the "The Norwegian North Atlantic Deep Sea Expedition" (1876-78) and "The Michael Sars Deep Sea Expedition" (1910) were technically groundbreaking in deep sea research. These collections also generated descriptions of hundreds of new species.
More recent material includes considerable amounts of samples from near coast and fjord systems, as well as deep sea benthic fauna from the northern Atlantic.
About 1300 specimens represent type material. The type status of quite a few specimens still has to be clarified.
We are trying to reduce storage in formalin and are replacing formalin with ethyl alcohol whenever possible. We additionally have a considerable dry collection of particularly mollusc shells, and a number of microsopic slide mounts.
We have facilities for relatively short term storage of frozen material (-20 to -80 Celcius).
|
