Natural history collections: collaborative opportunities and important sources of information about helminth biodiversity in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Only a small fraction of the Earth’s total biodiversity has been described. This is particularly true of parasitic fauna, due to the paucity of taxonomic expertise, funding, and interest in parasites. It is expected that co-extinctions will become the main cause of species loss with potentially half of the parasite species becoming extinct prior to their discovery. This article addresses this issue and highlights case studies from the Otago Museum (OMNZ) (Dunedin, New Zealand), providing examples of successful collaborations between government organisations, museums, and parasitologists in bridging knowledge gaps in parasite diversity. The case studies presented focus on the parasitic helminths from opportunistic necropsies of stranded marine mammals and deceased birds. Collections from these case studies have doubled the size of the parasite collection at the OM, making this institution the most important repository of parasitic helminths in the country. We encourage such collaborations between museums, governing bodies, indigenous communities, ecologists and parasitologists in enhancing our knowledge of parasite diversity. Furthermore, we urge scientists to deposit both host and parasite tissues from surveys, vouchers, along with their respective metadata so that samples can be adequately stored and curated, thus ensuring that parasite collections become a legacy for future generations of scientists.