The Marine Invertebrate collection was started in the 1940s with alcohol-preserved specimens collected by Dr. C. McLean Fraser and Dr. Ian McTaggart-Cowan. Primarily used for teaching, the collection eventually grew to several thousand specimens representing the major lineages of invertebrate animals.
In 2006, Kelly Norton donated the Alice Stein collection, consisting of thousands of shells and corals. The Marine Invertebrate Collection was further expanded in 2007 with a large donation of shells from Evelyn Hebb Killam. Both contributions represent mostly tropical species and include some spectacular examples of global marine biodiversity, such as giant clams and some rare species of cowries.
You can explore the Carefoot Marine Invertebrate Image collection, featuring the results of many hundreds of dives made with underwater stills and video cameras at dive sites around the world!
If you would like to access the Marine Invertebrate Collection for research purposes please contact Christopher Harley (contact us).
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