Collection - arachnids and myriapods
This collection comprises the most basal and ancient lineages of arthropods. It includes the arachnids (spiders and allies) and myriapods (centipedes and millipedes) but also some lesser-known groups such as the velvet worms (Onychophora), water bears (Tardigrada), tongue worms (Pentastomida), horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura) and sea spiders (Pycnogonida). Both marine and terrestrial arthropods are curated in this collection.
Overall there are almost 1.000.000 objects representing 8.800 species of arthropods from all over the world. There are more than 3200 type specimens from which the species were originally described. Most specimens are part of the wet collection and stored in roughly 18.000 collection jars with ethanol as a preservative. There is also a significant dry collection comprising more than 37.000 microscope slides of micro-arthropods. The relative number of species per group is as follows: water bears (Tardigrada: 208 species), velvet worms (Onychophora: 21), horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura: 4), sea spiders (Pycnogonida: 109), scorpions (Scorpiones: 452), spiders (Araneae: 2.100), whip scorpions (Thelyphonida: 30), schizomids (Schizomida: 8), whip spiders (Amblypygi: 23), pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: 153), harvestmen (Opiliones: 329), camel spiders (Solifugae: 153), palpigrades (Palpigradi: 2), ricinuleids (Ricinulei: 1), mites (Acari: 3.627), centipedes (Chilopoda: 409) and millipedes (Diplopoda: 1.060).
CeNak houses the third-largest arachnological collection in Germany. This collection is both world-renowned and scientifically relevant. For some of the curated groups (i.e. tardigrades, scorpions, spiders and mites) it is one of the most important reference collections and frequently consulted by specialists within Europe and overseas. This is primarily due to the prevalence of type material and the importance of some of the older specimens, with many of these being older than 150 years and described by pioneering zoologists.
The spider species from Australia and Southeast-Asia (> 800 species) were originally described in the 19th century by arachnologists L. Koch und E. von Keyserling. They are amongst the first spiders to be described from these biogeographic regions and an invaluable source for faunistic and taxonomic research in this part of the world. These collections originally belonged to the Museum Godeffroy, a former private museum in Hamburg that was demolished in 1885. Most specimens from this collection were transferred to subway shafts shortly before the Zoological Museum in Hamburg was destroyed in the World War II and have survived in excellent condition. The scorpion and millipede collections today are amongst the largest in the world and essential for taxonomic research on these groups. Both collections are extremely rich in type material and frequently consulted by scientists from all over the world.
Overall, the collection contains material from the pioneers of arachnological research such as Koch, Keyserling, Graf von Attems, Kraepelin, Silvestri, Tullgren, Pocock, but also renowned specialists such as Roewer, Verhoeff, Viets, Sellnick, Lukoschus, Schaarschmidt, Regenfuß, Rack, Krczal and Bartsch. The large slide collection of mites was established after the World War II because the original collection was destroyed in 1943. This is major achievement of one of the former curators, Gisela Rack, who was a major authority in mite research and grew this collection with passion and engagement. The collection of tardigrades was established by Dr. Hieronymus Dastych, one of the leading experts on this enigmatic animal group.
Currently, several active research projects utilise the specimens in this collection. There are projects on mites, onychophorans, several groups of spiders, and pseudoscorpions. Besides the rather classic approaches of systematic and taxonomic work on the curated groups - the description of species and the analysis of phylogenetic relationships - there are projects on comparative phylogeography, functional morphology, molecular evolution and conservation biology. Field excursions as part of the current projects are being used to grow an enhance the collection.