Searching specimens - things to know

Collection specimen: Lindia tecusa

  • You can search for any of the following specimen metadata directly in the searchbox: Collection object name, preparation (female, male, trophi etc.), repository acronym, and catalog number. Enter e.g. ' male' to see what preparations are available of male rotifers, or 'type' to get a full list of rotifer type material.

  • Collection specimens are only shown under their currently valid taxonomic names. For instance, type material of Encentrum brevifulcrum Dartnall, now believed to be conspecific with Paradicranophorus sordidus Donner, is listed among specimens of the latter species, along with its original ID E. brevifulcrum Dartnall. Similarly, to see if any specimens of the infrasubspecific Brachionus quadridentatus f. brevispinus (Ehrenberg) have been deposited, check collection specimens for Brachionus quadridentatus Hermann.

  • Rotifer preparations from the following major type-holding collections have so far been included in the Rotifer World Catalog:
    • ANSP - Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia (full collection)
    • USNM - National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (full collection)
    • AMNH - American Museum of Natural History, New York (types only)
    • RBINS - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels (full collection)
    • MRAC - Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren (types only)
    • SMF - Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt (types and high priority material)
    • NHM - Natural History Museum, London (types and high priority material)
  • Integration of further specimen material of the NHM and SMF collections is currently in progress.

  • See here for meanings of repository acronyms.

  • IUI (Indicator of Uncertainty of Identification) indicates an unsafe specimen identification.

  • Note that for microscope slide preparations of some collections an assessment of their conservation status is included. We used the NMNH Invertebrate Zoology’s Collection Profiling conservation scoring categories as defined below:
 

Quality Score

Definition

0

specimen(s) damaged beyond use; recommend deaccession if non-type

1

unstable; specimen(s) subject to damage or loss if not immediately restored/remounted

2

slide or specimen(s) degraded or damaged but not in imminent danger of further deterioration; restoration/remounting recommended in the near future

3

slide in good condition and specimen(s) stable; restoration/remounting using current best practices is recommended

4

specimen(s) in good condition, slide preparation uses currently accepted techniques and materials

 

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