Collection

The polychaete collection of the Senckenbergmuseum is available on the internet through SeSam/Aquila. The digitization of the data was kindly made possible through generous financial support by the Walter and Erika Datz Foundation and the German Science Foundation (DFG; Fi 433/12-1).

The collection comprises mainly specimens of the following regions and expeditions:

Atlantic

• South Georgia and subantarctic islands (coll. L. Kohl-Larsen 1929)
• USA, Georgia (coll. J. Dörjes 1966-1980)
• New Foundland Bank (coll. J. Prena 1994)
• French coasts of the Atlantic and The Channel (Roscoff , France) (coll. D. Fiege, R. Barnich and T. Wehe 1994, 1996, 2003)
• Angola Basin, (METEOR-cruise 48/1, DIVA 1 Latitudinal Gradients of Biodiversity in the Abyssal Deep-sea of the Angola Basin) (coll. D. Fiege, R. Barnich, B. Hilbig and G. Purschke 2000)
• North Atlantic, Iceland (METEOR-cruise 85/3, IceAGE) (coll. D. Fiege, K. Meißner and A. Murray)

North Sea

• German Bight (coll. J. Dörjes 1966-1980)
• North Sea (Mapping of  Epizoobenthos) (coll. M. Türkay 1977-2003)

Mediterranean Sea

• Gulf of Gaeta, Italy (coll. Dörjes 1966-1980)
• Eastern Mediterranean Sea (METEOR-cruise 5/1) (coll. Türkay 1987);  (METEOR-cruise 25/1) (coll. D. Fiege und N.M. Ben-Eliahu 1993)
• Banyuls-sur-mer, France (coll. Fiege and R. Barnich 1995, 1997)
• Western Mediterranean Sea (Depro; Urania CS 96; Etang de Thau) (coll. H. Zibrowius 1997, 1998)
• Egean Sea (METEOR-cruise 40/3) (coll. Fiege and R. Barnich 1997/8)
• Crete (coll. D. Fiege and R. Barnich 1998)

Red Sea

• MeSedA = Metalliferous Sediment Development Atlantis II Deep (coll. H. Thiel and M. Türkay 1977)
• Comparative Ecological Analysis of Biota and Habitats of the Sudanese Red Sea (coll. D. Fiege 1992) 

Indo-Pacific

• Indoaustralian Archipelago, Aru- und Kei-Islands (coll. H. Merton 1908)
• Hanseatic Expedition to Southern Seas (coll. E. Wolf 1909-1911)
• Madagascar (coll. R. Plante and B. Thomassin 1965-1970)
• Taiwan (coll. J. Dörjes 1966-1980)
• California (coll. J. Dörjes 1966-1980)
• The Gulf (Establishment of a Marine Habitat and Wildlife Sanctuary for the Gulf Region, Saudi Arabia) (coll. D. Fiege 1991)
• Biodiversity of marine Biota of the Island of Hainan, South China Sea (coll. D. Fiege and Sun Ruiping 1992)
• Hot Vents of the Indo-Pacific (coll. H. Sahling 1996)
• Socotra Archipelago,  V.R. Jemen (coll. T. Wehe 2000)
• Hot vents of the North Fiji and Lihir Basins and the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (coll. M. Türkay and T. Jellinek 1995, 1998; M. Türkay and J. Stecher 2001)  

Due to the participation in numerous expeditions and projects over the past 15 years many polychaetes have been added to the collections. Only a part of them has been studied and catalogued to date. In terms of number of specimens and taxa represented, the collections from the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the South China Sea belong to the most important collections worldwide.

The Aphroditoidea, Glyceridae, Eunicida, Magelonidae, Terebellidae and Serpulidae form the systematic focus of the collections.

Publications:

Jangoux, M. & De Ridder, C. (1989): Die Typen und Typoide des Natur-Museums Senckenberg, 79 – Echinodermata. Senckenbergiana biologica 69(1/3): 201-206.

Saiz-Salinas, J.I. (1989): Die Typen und Typoide des Natur-Museums Senckenberg, 80 – Sipunculida. Die von Rüppell & Leuckart 1828 beschriebenen Arten. Senckenbergiana biologica 69(1/3): 207-212.

Fiege, D. & Wehe, T. (2004): Type catalogue of the Annelida Polychaeta in the collections of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Senckenbergiana biologica 84(1/2): 27-43.

In order to maintain and develop the collections as a major biological archive the deposition of specimens, especially type specimens, by external scientists is greatly encouraged and appreciated.

Additional collections curated by the Sektion Marine Invertebrates II and their focus (collector, expeditions, geographical origin)