The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Benthic Invertebrate Collection houses over 40,000 lots, containing over 750,000 specimens. Approximately 20,000 lots are identified to genus level and 14,500 lots to species level. This material represents the collecting efforts of SIO scientists, scientists from other institutions, and donations from private collectors. While the holdings are worldwide in extent, they are primarily from the eastern Pacific. Click here to see a map of collection locations. The Collection has considerable material from Pacific deep sea (<1000m) locations, including the Tonga and Marianna Trenches. Samples were collected with a variety of devices from intertidal hand collecting and SCUBA to rock dredges and trawls.

The major holdings of the collection are in mollusks and crustaceans, including an extensive barnacle collection from worldwide locations. The Collection contains over 150 type lots used in species descriptions. Over 30 000 lots are catalogued with 25 000+ entries existing in an electronic database. The Collection houses a systematic reference library and reprint collection.

Swimming crab Charybdis erythrodactyla
Photo: W Newman

The Collection supports scientific research by providing specimens for study on the taxonomy, evolution, and ecology of benthic invertebrates. Collection material are used to support educational programs at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, graduate courses and research projects at SIO. Specimens are available for examination at SIO and for loan to researchers at recognized institutions, consistent with our loan policies.

The Collection works closely with other invertebrate collections outside SIO, such as those at the California Academy of Sciences, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The Collection supports the activities of the Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists (SCAMIT).

The Collection serves as a repository for specimens collected by Scripps scientists including material properly preserved for genomic studies. Collection materials are used to support educational programs at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. The Oceanographic Collections, including the Benthic Invertebrate Collection, also support graduate courses and research at SIO.

Staff

Prof. Greg Rouse - Curator. E-mail: grouse@ucsd.edu
Dr. Harim Cha - Museum Scientist. E-mail: hacha@ucsd.edu
Prof. William A Newman - Curator (Emeritus). E-mail: wnewman@ucsd.edu


Mailing address:
Benthic Invertebrate Collection
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego 0244
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, U.S.A.
Phone: 858/822-2818; Fax: 858-822-3310
Web address: http://collections.ucsd.edu/bi

Campus Location:
Vaughan Hall, Rooms 110, 138 and 141, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Click here for map