Index to Important Sponge Collections

Contents | Institutions | Acknowledgements

Introduction

As can be seen from this second edition of the 'Index', the tracing of sponge collections is still in the early stages of investigation.

Once a collection has been traced to an institute, we need to know how many of the reported specimens have survived. To do this, either we check ourselves, or encourage the resident curator to do so, keeping the compiler of the 'Index' informed of the situation. Hopefully, such interest will lead to the publication of more museum catalogues. Details about the specimens, their condition and accessibility will be valuable when reviews and revisions are undertaken.

The different sections which make up the present 'Index' are by no means firmly established, so if you would like to suggest any changes, I should be glad to hear from you.

The aim of the 'Index' is to include all the important sponge collections deposited in institutes around the world. To achieve this aim requires the help of everyone. If you know of a taxonomically important collection that is not yet in the 'Index', do not hesitate to let me have the details, and it will be included in the next supplement.

As more authors are adopting Recommendation (73C) laid down in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, indicating where their published material has been deposited, the 'Index' will remain primarily concerned with the earlier historical collections.

Information please to:

Shirley Stone and Clare Valentine, Dept. of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.

CONTENTS

KEY TO THE ABBREVIATIONS used for some of the PRINCIPAL INSTITUTES CITED IN THE 'INDEX'

AM Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
BMNH British Museum (Natural History), London, UK
CAS California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA
IOM Institut Oceanographique de Monaco
MCZ Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, USA
MNB Museum fur Natuurkunde, Berlin, FRG
MNHN Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
MZS Musee Zoologique de Strasbourg, France
NMI National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
NMNZ National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, (previously the Dominion Museum)
NMS Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Frankfurt, FRG
NMV National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
PMJ Phyletisches Museum der Friederich-Schiller-Universitat, Jena, GDR
RNHL Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, The Netherlands
USNM United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA
YPM Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Univ., New Haven, Connecticut, USA
ZIL Zoological Institute, Leningrad, USSR
ZMA Zoological Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ZMB Zoologisches Museum der Humboldt-Universit'at, Berlin, GDR
ZMC Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
ZMH Zoologisches Museum, Hamburg, FRG
ZMK Zoologisches Museum, Kiel, FRG
ZMZ Zoologisches Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
ZRS Zoologiska Rijkmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
ZSM Zoologisches Staatsamlung, Munchen, FRG

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The following people have been most helpful in providing information for the 'Index'. Their contributions are here gratefully acknowledged:

Special thanks are due to the following people who have expended much time and energy in helping to trace some of the collections:

2nd Edition, 1986. This page last updated by B.E. Picton, 31st March 1999

Miss S.M. Stone, c/o Dept. of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.