Zoological Museum > Collections > Invertebrates > Echinodermata

ECHINODERMATA

Historical background:
The large echinoderm collection in the Zoological Museum originates from the Danish expeditions to the Atlantic, Arctic and worldwide Seas, and from scientists on own expeditions and studies at marine laboratories in different parts of the world.
Some of the old specimens are gifts from collectors and museums, other old specimens are exchange specimens from museums and collectors, and finally, other specimens have been bought from collectors. But the main part of the echinoderm collection originates from the international echinoderm specialist Dr. Th. Mortensen's worldwide expeditions and from his research visits to marine laboratories all over the world in the years 1890-1939; other large collections originate from a number of Greenland expeditions, and from the North Atlantic Ingolf expedition (1895- 96) and the Galathea expedition (1950-52). New material of echinoderms is added to the collection from scientists, who have been guest scientists on international expeditions.
One of the oldest specimens in the echinoderm collection is O.F. Müller's holotype of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis from off Drøbak, Norway (1776).

The collection, size and diversity:
Zoological Museum's echinoderm collection is one of the three largest collections in the world. It contains ca. 3731 identified species of the known recent ca. 6300 species in the world, including 613 holotypes and a large number of paratypes. The collection consists of dry and wet specimens, a large number of slides (holothurian ossicles, echinoid and asteroid pedicellariae, larvae and histological sections of a number of echinoderms). The specimens in the collection are well preserved and well kept. This is due to the long tradition in the museum (1851-1986) of having a responsible echinoderm specialist as curator, who studies specimens from the collection, knows the scientific value of the specimens, and knows how to handle and take care of a museum collection. The echinoderm collection is one of the most valuable documentary collections in the world.

Scientific value of the collection:
Echinoderms have fascinated human beings for centuries and Scandinavian scientists had studied echinoderms since the eighteenth century (O.F. Müller, J.E. Gunnerus and C. Linn‚). Studies of fossil and recent echinoderms developed in the following centuries, and scientific studies of echinoderms became an important research field in the Zoological Museum in the middle of the nineteenth century (Prof. Jap. Steenstrup (1846-55) and Dr. Chr. Lütken (1851-1899)).
Dr. Th. Mortensen started his echinoderm studies in 1890 and he raised the scientific study of echinoderms in the Zoological Museum to a high international standard in the years 1899-1939. Dr. F.J. Madsen followed up the international standard of echinoderm studies, and he was the echinoderm specialist and curator for the echinoderm collection from 1945 to 1986.

Value of the echinoderm collection:
The collection consists of a large number of species from all over the world, and it contains a number of specimens of each species. The specimens appear in a good preserved (wet) and dry condition. Moreover, ca. 90% of all described recent echinoderm species are represented in the echinoderm collection of the Zoological Museum, and a large number of holotypes and paratypes are included in the collection. All the above mentioned facts show that the collection is of high scientific value. Studies of echinoderms include the classical disciplines: morphology, histology, embryology, systematics, phylogenetics, zoogeography, ecology and behaviour. New disciplines of study include molecular biology, gene technology and biochemistry. All scientific lines are, however, linked to basic systematic and phylogenetic studies.
Scientists working in new technological sciences require new studies of echinoderms in the classical disciplines to support their results. This shows that a large collection of well kept echinoderms is of high scientific value to new international echinoderm studies. Finally, a collection of recent species of echinoderms is of high value for palaeontological studies.

Responsible curator: Danny Eibye-Jacobsen
Assistant curator: Tom Schiøtte