NHMO Invertebrate collection

Occurrence Specimen
Latest version published by University of Oslo on May 6, 2026 University of Oslo
Publication date:
May 6, 2026
Published by:
University of Oslo
License:
CC-BY 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 10,141 records in English (2 MB) - Update frequency: weekly
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Description

The invertebrate collection is a collection that was established in 2023 by reorganizing the invertebrate collections at NHMO. It includes parts of the former helminth and crustacean collections. The collection includes all invertebrate groups except Panarthropoda, Mollusca, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, and Phoronida. In total, the collection is responsible for 25 major invertebrate taxa (23 are known as phyla and two as subphyla). Originating from the museum's research history, the collection has several different main focuses. One taxon of research interest is polychaete worms (Annelida). Another group is three major parasitic groups. Haptor worms (Monogenea, Gyrodactylus) and flukes (Digenea, Phyllodistomum) infecting fishes are two groups and roundworms (Nematoda, Elaphostrongylus) infecting deer (Cervidae) is another. Cnidarians and echinoderms also form large groups in the collection. In addition, many researchers over the years have collected other material from both freshwater and marine areas in Norway and several other countries. There is also material from several expeditions from the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest material dates to the collecting activities of Michael Sars.The collection comprises approximately 15,000 catalogued objects. In addition, there are uncatalogued objects (approximately 8,000 specimens) and also unsorted material from various expeditions and projects. The majority of this is alcohol-preserved material (wet collections). Additionally, approx. 800 catalogued microscopy slides (there are also several thousand uncatalogued slides as reference material from project work) are part of the collection. Over 265 species are first descriptions (type material) with 410 specimens.All accessioned specimens have been digitized and are partly available on GBIF. The rest will soon be made available. The collection is used by the museum's researchers and students, and by researchers from Norway and abroad who either borrow material or visit the museum as guest researchers. The is a source for local, national and international research. In addition, objects in the collection are made available for DNA-based research such as genome sequencing. This will be particularly important in view of the new large, global genome projects and the fact that many species will only be possible to sequence from museum material. The latter is particularly demanding for material from wet collections.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 8,699 records.

5 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Occurrence (core)
8699
MaterialSample 
8699
Preservation 
8681
Preparation 
3693
ResourceRelationship 
928
Amplification 
414

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Struck T, Rønning A, Johannessen L E (2023). NHMO Helminth collection. Version 1.1. University of Oslo. Occurrence dataset. https://corema.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=nhmo-helminth&v=1.1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is University of Oslo. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 9fdf31e5-8a56-4b65-86ce-acd8170eab97.  University of Oslo publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Norway.

Keywords

Occurrence; Specimen

Contacts

Torsten Struck
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Professor
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
  • Natural History Museum, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern
NO-0318 Oslo
NO
Ann-Helén Rønning
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Collection manager
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
  • Natural History Museum, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern
NO-0318 Oslo
NO
Lars Erik Johannessen
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Database manager
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
  • Natural History Museum, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern
NO-0318 Oslo
NO
Rukaya Johaadien
  • User

Geographic Coverage

The geographic scope is global and includes samples from most continents and seas. The main focus is on Norway and its adjacent seas.

Bounding Coordinates South West [-90, -180], North East [90, 180]

Taxonomic Coverage

The collection covers and accepts specimens and species from several invertebrate phyla and subphyla. It is the collection of NHMO with the largest systematic and taxonomic breadth of all collections. The collection comprises 23 phyla and two subphyla, including at least 57 orders, 176 families, 482 genera and 806 species, which have been digitized. Phyla Porifera, Cnidaria, Placozoa, Ctenophora, Xenacoelomorpha, Chaetognatha, Rhombozoa, Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, Rotifera (syn. Syndermata), Gastrotricha, Platyhelminthes, Cycliophora, Nemertea, Annelida, Entoprocta (syn. Kamptozoa), Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Priapulida, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Hemichordata, Echinodermata Subphyla Tunicata (syn. Urochordata), Cephalochordata (syn. Acrania)

Phylum Annelida (Annelids), Chaetognatha (Chaetognaths), Cnidaria (Cnidarians), Entoprocta (Entoprocts), Hemichordata (Hemichordates), Nematoda (Nematodes), Nematomorpha (Horsehair worms), Nemertea (Ribbon worms), Platyhelminthes (Flatworms), Porifera (Sponges), Priapulida (Priapulid worms), Ctenophora (Comb jellies), Cycliophora (Cycliophors), Echinodermata (Echinoderms), Gastrotricha (Gastrotrichs), Gnathostomulida (Jaw worms), Kinorhyncha (Kinorhynchs), Loricifera (Loricifers), Micrognathozoa (Micrognathozoans), Placozoa (Placozoans), Rhombozoa (Rhombozoans), Rotifera (Rotifers), Xenacoelomorpha (Xenacoelomorphans)
Subphylum Tunicata (Tunicates), Cephalochordata (Cephalochordates)

Temporal Coverage

Formation Period 1839-current

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 9fdf31e5-8a56-4b65-86ce-acd8170eab97
https://corema.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=nhmo-hm