Collection Data

Page Contents: Section | Significance | Background | Location & Dates | Taxonomic Contents | Documentation | Description of Collection | Collection Inventory | Collection Assets

Puget Sound, University of Washington 1974-1979

Section Responsible for Processing

MBC

Significance

The intent and historical importance of this collection was to provide a quantitative baseline against which man-made disturbances (i.e., petroleum-related) or natural environmental changes could be compared.

Background

The project was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administered by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE). The principal investigators were Drs. Carl. F. Nyblade and H. H. Webber, University of Washington. The material was housed at Friday Harbor, University of Washington before it was transferred to the NHMLAC September 1998 by Leslie Harris, NHMLAC Collections Manager, Polychaetes.

Collection Location and Dates

Samples were taken from the shorelines of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Island, and the southern Strait of Georgia. The study area extended from Cape Flattery, east to Point Wilson and north to the Canadian border.

The majority of samples were taken between 1974 and 1979 with some additional samples taken in the 1980’s from intertidal to shallow subtidal depths (+2m to –10m).

Three primary habitats were sampled: (a) exposed unconsolidated sediments [mixed coarse sediments and sand], (b) protected unconsolidated sediments [mud-gravel, mud-sand, mud], and (c) rock [protected, exposed, and cobble]. There were 31 sites in all.

Taxonomic Contents

The collection consists primarily of polychaetes, crustaceans, mollusks, and echinoderms, but also includes: nemerteans, nematodes, oligochaetes, cnidarians, insects, poriferans, platyhelminthes, and a few algal specimens.

Documentation

The published reports and all existing data books are located in the NHMLAC Polychaete office.

Description of Collection

The collection, when transferred to NHMLAC consisted of 240, 5 gallon buckets, 33 gallon jars, 23 boxes with quart and pint jars, 6 miscellaneous boxes of jars and vials. Most of the collection was rough sorted into different phyla but organized by site and station.

The specimens were originally fixed in 10% formalin and subsequently transferred to ethanol. It appears that glycerin had been added to at least some lots. All preservative was replaced with 70% ethanol between January and September 2001.

A polychaete voucher collection consisting of approximately 275 lots and a miscellaneous taxa voucher collection consisting of approximately 100 lots is located in the Polychaete Collection Range, NHMLAC basement. A crustacean voucher collection is located in the Crustacea Collection Range, NHMLAC basement.

The remainder of the collection was consolidated into 207 buckets, occupying two pallets. Curation of the collection involved transfer of specimens from 5 gallon buckets to museum-grade glassware and storing on compactorized shelving in NHMLAC Polychaete Range.

Collection Inventory

No information available.

Collection Assets

Date View or Retrieve File Information
05/01/2003 View [380.5 kB] Samples processed and now on shelves.
11/15/2001 View [1000.4 kB] Cork-stoppered vials in plastic bags. Visual inspection of alcohol levels.
11/15/2001 View [930.1 kB] Collection after alcohol change.
11/15/2001 View [990.6 kB] Samples now transferred to new buckets.
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Curatorial Status (Click to view)