Benthic Marine Collection

Researchers of ISPRA’s Laboratory of Benthic Ecology (LEB)  have been studying marine biodiversity for 15 years through the analysis of the macroinvertebrate benthic fauna collected during several research projects aimed at investigating soft bottoms of the Italian coastal marine and brackish environments.
Over the years researchers have sampled, identified and stored huge amounts of  specimens typical of different environments and biogeographical zones.
The specimens included in the macroinvertebrate benthic collection belong mainly to the most representative taxonomic groups of the marine and brackish environments investigated, such as Annelid Polychaetes, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Echinoderms together with  minor taxonomic groups such  as Pycnogonids and Bryozoans.
Researchers of ISPRA’s Laboratory of Benthic Ecology (LEB) in order to make available all information coming from the studies on marine biodiversity, are working  on the classification of the collected specimens, in order to create a collection of benthic marine  organisms of soft bottoms, that will be included as a thematic section in the pre-existing ISPRA collections

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