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Invertebrate Zoology

Invertebrate Zoology is the scientific study of animals without backbones, including marine groups such as sponges, corals, crustaceans, and echinoderms. At Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, this area of study focuses primarily on marine invertebrates from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, while also encompassing the remarkable diversity of species found across island and reef ecosystems.

This Collection:
49,000+ Cataloged Lots

Regional Focus:
Hawaiʻi & the Pacific

Scientific Record:
100+ Years in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific

Ongoing Research: Surveys Across Hawaiʻi & the Pacific

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Why does it matter?

Marine invertebrates are essential components of ocean ecosystems and can help reveal environmental change over time. In Hawaiʻi, they are important to biodiversity, reef health, and long-term monitoring of native and introduced species. Studying them supports conservation, invasive species detection, biological monitoring, and a better understanding of marine life across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

What does the department look after?

The Invertebrate Zoology Collection cares for more than 49,000 cataloged lots, including over 1,000 type specimens. It is the only collection in the world devoted solely to marine invertebrates of the Pacific islands, with a primary focus on the Hawaiian Archipelago. The collection includes major groups such as sponges, corals, crustaceans, and echinoderms, and represents more than 100 years of scientific activity in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

What do invertebrate zoologists do?

Staff and researchers curate, identify, preserve, and study marine invertebrate specimens from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. They support scientific research, document invasive species and other changes in Hawaiian waters, and carry out field surveys in places such as harbors and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The collection and its associated data also support biological monitoring, checklist development, and long-term research on Pacific marine biodiversity.

View Our Data

Access Invertebrate Zoology collection data through Bishop Museum’s online databases and global biodiversity platforms. Use the Natural Sciences Database to search specimen records, browse the Invertebrate Zoology Checklist, or explore Marine Invertebrate Occurrence Records through GBIF.

Discover The Collection

To request access to the Invertebrate Zoology collection, please fill out our online Natural Sciences Collections Access and Use Request Form.

Donate

Support the Invertebrate Zoology Collection and its work to document marine biodiversity in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Contributions help support collections care, research, field surveys, and efforts related to biological monitoring and invasive species detection.

The Invertebrate Zoology Collection at Bishop Museum contains over 49,000 cataloged lots with over 1,000 type specimens. It is the only collection in the world devoted solely to marine invertebrates of the Pacific islands, with its primary focus being the Hawaiian Archipelago. It primarily houses marine animals that span multiple animal groups, including Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (corals, jellies), Crustacea (crabs, lobsters), and Echinodermata (sea stars, urchins). The collection represents more than 100 years of scientific activity in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Some notable collections of invertebrates found in the IZ Collection include Hawaiian deep water invertebrates from unusual habitats including emerging volcanoes, submerged ancient coral reefs, and the deep mesophotic[TR1] zone. The collection also includes coral reef invertebrates from the remote marine sanctuary of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument) and comprehensive collections of invertebrates throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, all of which are the basis for the scientific publication series Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaiʻi.

The collection also contains specimens from a number of the earliest scientific expeditions in Hawai‘i and the Pacific region including the Albatross (1888–1910), Tanager and Whippoorwill (1923–1924), and the Itasca Expedition (1935). It also contains numerous type specimens collected and described by some of the most influential researchers of Hawaiian and Pacific biota, such as de Laubenfels (sponges), Vaughan (corals), Hartman and Brock (polychaetes), Devaney (echinoderms), and Edmondson (crustaceans), and from research organizations such as Hawaiʻi Underwater Research Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Navy Ocean Science Center, University of Hawai‘i, and Enewetak Biological Laboratory.

Today, the Invertebrate Zoology Collection provides a chronological history of species in Hawai‘i, and continues to be used to document the arrival of alien species to Hawaiian waters. The collection and its associated information can be used to assist with biological monitoring and control of invasive species. Our staff is engaged in ongoing research throughout Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, including surveys of Hawai‘i’s harbors, monitoring for invasive organisms, and surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to provide a complete checklist of all marine invertebrates.

Holly Bolick
Collections Manager
holly@bishopmuseum.org

Ken Longenecker
Associate Zoologist
klongenecker@bishopmuseum.org

Kiana Lee
Collections Technician I
kiana.lee@bishopmuseum.org

Research Requests?

To request a back of house collection tour please fill out our online Natural Sciences Collection Tour Request Form.

PILSBRy

Bishop Museum malacology online database is now incorporated into the PILSBRy (Pacific Island Land Snail Biodiversity Repository) portal supported by NSF.

Outreach & Resources

The Bishop Museum’s Malacology Department opens doors to one of the world’s most significant molluscan biodiversity collections.

Quick Guides

Biodiversity is inextricably linked to healthy ecosystem services and functions, and by extension public health, biosecurity, agriculture, and the economy.

Snailblazers Card Game

Play the card game! Think you can handle the heat of Snail Blazers TCG? Play against friends using an army of Hawaiian snails and their special abilities.

BIORETS

The National Science Foundation has awarded the Bishop Museum and partners in the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (HDOE), ʻIolani’s Community Science program, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa a three-year BIORETS Site award.

Help Save Our Snails!

The Hawaiian land snail fauna is indisputably one of the most diverse in the world in relation to land area, with more than 759 species in 13 families.

a close up of two snails on a leaf.

a close up of a snail on a leaf.

a collection of sea shells on a black background.

a close up of a snail on a piece of wood.

The Bishop Museum has one of the most comprehensive collection of Pacific island land snails in the world. The approximately 25,000 islands of the Pacific Ocean harbor more than 6,000 land snail species, most of which are only found on a single island or archipelago. Unfortunately, molluscs, particularly Pacific island land snails, have the highest recorded extinction rate of any major animal taxonomic group, making the Museum’s collection all the more important. This collection (6+ million specimens) includes representatives of many extinct, endangered, and threatened species and more than 300 undescribed species.

Molluscs represent the second most diverse group of animals among recognized species in the world. This incredibly diverse group of animals include cephalopoda (octopus, squid, cuttlefish), bivalvia (clams, oysters, geoducks), scaphopoda (tusk shells), polyplacophora (chitons), and gastropoda (snails, nudibranchs, sea hares), many of which can be found in the Bishop Museum Malacology Collection.

The first mollusc shells acquisition of the Bishop Museum was the Andrew Garrett Collection, purchased in 1894, and contains marine, land, and freshwater specimens. The subsequent history of the Malacology Collection is largely a history of numerous expeditions and field surveys throughout the Pacific and Indo-West Pacific Ocean, and of the acquisition of more than 30 major private collections, containing predominantly Pacific material. Many of these expeditions were led by Dr. Charles Montague Cooke, Jr., the first curator of the collection that established the department in 1907.

Most notable in the marine collection are the acquisitions between 1948 and 1963 of the D. D. Thaanum and D. B. Langford Collection, consisting of approximately 160,000 specimens from throughout the Pacific. In 2002, Bishop Museum acquired C. M. Burgess’s extensive collection of worldwide cowries and Dr. E. A. Kay gifted her extraordinary collection of molluscs along with her notes, photos, and literature collection to Bishop Museum in 2009.

Norine W. Yeung, Ph.D,
Malacology Curator
808-848-4118
norine@bishopmuseum.org

Jaynee R. Kim, MS
Non-Marine Malacology Collection Manager
808-848-4118
jaynee.kim@bishopmuseum.org

Regina “Regie” Kawamoto
Marine Malacology Collection Technician
808-847-8218
reginak@hawaii.edu

August Sullivan
Research Specialist

Jan Kealoha
Pupu Ola Captive Rearing Coordinator

Mandilee Hill
Collections Technician

Research Affiliates

Dr. Carl. C. Christensen
Dr. Daniel Chung
Dr. Robert H. Cowie
Fred Brook
John Slapcinsky
Dr. Ellen Strong

Publications

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Be a Part of Our Story

Celebrate the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific with a gift to Bishop Museum. As a partner in the Museum’s work, you can help to sustain vital collections, research, and knowledge, and inspire exploration and discovery with a tax-deductible donation.