Marine
The Museum's Department of Zoology collects specimens and records of sea creatures by searching both onshore and below the surface. Museum staff work together with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Environment Agency who use the information to help conserve marine habitats and species in Northern Ireland. During survey work, when an unusual creature is found, or one that cannot be identified, a specimen, or ‘voucher’, may be taken for further examination. Species which can be readily identified in the field are not usually collected but are photographed or simply recorded.
Image : A purple sun star Solaster endeca found in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland holds a special place in the oceans of the world. The temperature of our local waters lies between the cold water of the Arctic and the warmer water of the Mediterranean. We are surrounded by an extensive shelf of shallow water, on the eastern edge of the Atlantic, while strong tidal streams are caused by the geography of the Irish Sea. This means there is a very rich marine fauna with a mixture of southern and northern species and a wide range of seabed habitats, from mud to rock, sheltered to exposed.
The marine invertebrate collections include most species of larger animals found in Irish waters but are less complete for worms and small crustaceans. The fish collection is small. The world collections contain large numbers of shells with many rare species and display specimens and some representatives of all the major groups. The specimen of the Giant Clam was donated to the Belfast Natural History Society by the London entomologist Francis Walker in 1830.
The Wet Collection
A large quantity of specimens is held in jars or tubes of spirit, usually alcohol with various additives. This is known as the wet collection. The specimens are mostly marine animals, collected in the course of diving surveys around the Northern Ireland coast. They are the material record of th...
More...
Sponges
There are about 200 sorts of sponges in Northern Ireland waters – but you couldn’t use any of them as a bath sponge! Sponges and sea squirts are among the groups of marine animals that are still very poorly known. Sponges in particular often cannot be identified from living material b...
More...
Ask an Expert
If you would like further information about this collection you may contact the
curator by following this link and
completing the short form.