Scientific collections

The Invertebrate Collections houses approximately one hundred thousand lots with special focus on marine organisms from the Scandinavian region, but also samples from other parts of the World. Among others, the collections include historical material from expeditions such as "The Norwegian North Sea Expedition" (1876-1878) [Den norske nordhavsexpedition] and "Michael Sars Expedition 1910" as well as recent material from large-scale international and national initiatives like the “Mar-Eco” project, where extensive sampling was carried out along the mid-Atlantic ridge between the Azores and Iceland, the MAREANO project an ongoing sampling effort focused on the Norwegian maritime zone, and probably one of the best worldwide collections of West Africa marine invertebrates resulting from long-term sampling in cooperation with the Institute of Marine Research in Norway and several African partners.