The Museum of Marine Invertebrates and Molluscs

The Museum of Marine Invertebrates and Molluscs is a collection of preserved and dried specimens begun in 1969 by Stanley N. Wilkes and maintained by Stephen M. Shuster since 1990. Dr. Wilkes included his private collection of shells and preserved crustaceans from his studies on the Pacific Coast of North America, adding to these with annual class trips to the Gulf of California by Wilkes through 1989 and by Shuster from 1991 through the present. These collections yielded thousands of specimens from nearly all of the major invertebrate taxa, including nearly 10,000 specimens on slides, and original materials collected by Wilkes, Shuster and their collaborators in parasitological and invertebrate research. The collection also includes specimens from eastern North America, the Caribbean Sea, and tropical Pacific islands. Although most of the specimens are now used for teaching courses in invertebrate zoology and parasitology (BIO 221, 221, 322, 475), additional specimens with research significance include a 10-year series of collections of endangered freshwater isopods (Thermosphaeroma) from the Southwestern USA and Mexico, over 500 specimens in the Lois Richards seashell collection, and a library of rare books and reprints on invertebrate species.