Feedback on Preservation in Fluids: the Experience of the Marine Invertebrate Collection at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Abstract

The Invertébrés Marins (Marine Invertebrates) collections of the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (the French National Museum of Natural History; MNHN) are composed of about 1.5 million lots (containers of one or more specimens of the same taxonomic level) of at least 5 million specimens. The collections include a significant number of species from numerous geographical locations. Approximately 50,000 lots are types (sensu lato) with significant heritage value and covering the principal phyla and subphyla of marine invertebrates. Though the collections are mainly from marine environments, they also contain specimens from freshwater and terrestrial habitats. These organisms might be freeliving, parasitic, vagile, or sessile, and might live individually or form colonies; they display a great diversity of morphologies and sizes (Castro and Huber 2008). Collection management is carried out by a team of eight conservation technicians, assisted by four imaging and databasing technicians and several volunteers. The work is done in collaboration with fifteen scientific curators. The history of the MNHN began with the Jardin royal des plantes médicinales (Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants) created in 1635 by order of the King Louis XIII. In 1729, the pharmacy officially become the Cabinet d’histoire naturelle (Natural History Cabinet) (Laissus 1995). During the French Revolution, the National Convention reorganized the RoyalGarden (including theNatural History Cabinet) and transformed it into theMuseum of Natural History. In 1793, 12 chairs were established, including the “Lower Animals” (Animaux inférieurs) chair, assigned to Lamarck, who organized the first collections of marine invertebrates (Fischer-Piette 1944). From that time onward, the collections of marine invertebrates at the MNHN have been enhanced with specimens collected all over the world during oceanographic expeditions. The French tradition of marine scientific exploration started in the 18th century with several circumnavigation voyages (Bauchot et al. 1997) and continues today with diverse marine expedition programs led by MNHN research teams (MNHN website 2019). These programs, such as Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos (formerly MUSORSTOM), Our Planet Reviewed, and the Antarctic expeditions, cover a large part of the planet, aimed at exploring marine biodiversity (MNHN website 2021a, 2021b, 2021c). Current collection growth is from recent expeditions, but there are also noteworthy one-time contributions, including individual collecting events, donations, exchanges, and purchases. The Marine Invertebrate collections are housed in different locations at MNHN. Ninety percent of the collections are stored in the Zootheque (an underground building), under