Big congratulations to all of out master students who have completed their thesis so far in 2025! Well done, Amalie, Lea, Eva, Maria, and Joe!
Lawrence, Joseph C. (Master thesis, 2025, UiB): Bipolar or multiple species disorder? Examining the potential cryptic diversity of Ptychogastria polaris
Buhaug, Maria Grankvist (Master thesis, 2025, NTNU): Diversity and Distribution of Cyclostomatida (Bryozoa). An Integrative Approach to Increasing Knowledge on a Neglected Taxon in Norwegian and Adjacent Waters
Samson, Eva Charlotte (Master thesis, 2025, UiB): Genetic and morphological diversity of Bylgides (Polynoidae, Annelida) in the Arctic
Dober, Lea Sophie (Master thesis, 2025, UiB): Diversity and Dynamics of Parasites Associated with Arrow Worms (Chaetognatha) in Norwegian waters
Johannessen, Amalie (Master thesis, 2025, UiB): Fauna of Ægir Hydrothermal Vent Field
We have a blog for potential master thesis topis and records of our alumni, you find it here:
In a world full of administrative duties, unanswered emails, scary deadlines and project reports, immersing ourselves in a room full of samples of our favourite animals for an entire week is certainly therapeutic. And what a better way to do this than surrounded by colleagues and friends you admire; partners-in-crime with whom to play detective, solving challenging cases about species’ true identity.
Figure 1. Organized chaos at the Kurssal (course room in Norwegian) at the Museum. Several hundred samples of Arctic hydrozoans took over the room, and left us with just the right amount of space to set up our microscopes. Identification work in 3, 2, 1… go! Pictures: Joan J. Soto-Angel, Luis Martell.
The latest NOAH Workshop on Arctic hydrozoans focused on a vast collection of samples obtained during several MAREANO surveys by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR). As hosts, it was a joy to organize and implement an event like this. The workshop participants represented all career stages (from MSc to consolidated professors), five different nationalities and four different institutions, including University of Vigo (Spain), IMR (Norway) and University of Gothenburg (Sweden), in addition to ourselves at UMB. We inventoried over 400 samples. Indeed, we surpassed NOAH sample number 1200! Yaay! Of those, a set of 95 tissue samples are now on their way to the sequencing facility at the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding, as part of our agreement with the Norwegian Barcode of Life (NorBOL, BOLD). Despite (or perhaps thanks to) having very long days of nearly 10.5 hours of work, we had a very rewarding and productive week, instrumental to define our next efforts on species delimitation in Arctic Hydrozoa. It was really wonderful seeing people with different backgrounds, expertise and skills joining efforts to put some order in the messy hydrozoan systematics. We leave you with some impressions from each of the workshop participants. Thank you ALL for joining us!
From Marta Gil, Senior Engineer, Institute of Marine Research:
This was another incredible week collaborating with NOAH project, surrounded by hydroids and close friends! Despite being an intense week, I had so much fun in the lab checking samples, taking photos, chatting with Doris about athecate hydroids, discussing our identifications, and realizing that the new data and records we are generating will certainly shape our upcoming research efforts for the years to come. What I enjoyed the most was matching identifications made in the laboratory with the available molecular evidence. It’s very exciting to see how everything fits together. It’s like doing a puzzle!
I’m pleased that Mareano (IMR) supported and encouraged my participation in this workshop and that IMR is actively contributing with physical samples, some of which will be used to generate the first DNA barcodes for a bunch of species without prior molecular data. Collaboration between projects and institutions while sharing expertise and skills is essential: NOAH is a good example of how joining efforts is not only more efficient and productive, but also funnier and motivating. It will be exciting to see the results obtained altogether during the project (including “resurrecting” some species that were pooled as synonyms of supposedly largely distributed species). Stay tuned for updates!
Figure 2. Marta Gil is a passionate taxonomist with a huge expertise in benthic hydrozoan taxonomy. Her contribution to the workshop in particular, and to NOAH in general, have been a great asset to the project. She identified and recorded sample number 1200! Her happy face says it all. Pictures: Joan J. Soto-Angel, Marta Gil and Doris Björling.
From Doris Björling, PhD student, University of Gothenburg
I’m a PhD student in the project HYDROINS (Hydrozoa In Sweden) looking into the diversity of Anthoathecata in Swedish and adjacent waters. With limited resources, the opportunity to explore arctic samples from NOAH, the diverse collection of NorHydro and other samples from the Manet Team collection at the University Museum of Bergen is priceless. During the workshop I’ve gotten access to samples that feed into and expand several of my upcoming projects. While representatives from at least seven anthoathecate families were examined, my main focus has been family Tubulariidae. HYDROINS and NOAH are making a collaborative effort to explore and describe this family in our waters, including the large charismatic species Tubularia regalis in the Arctic.
Figure 3. Over the course of her PhD, Doris has become one of the few European experts in Anthoathecata. Through project HYDROINS (Swedish Species Information Centre, Artdatabanken), she is unveiling the diversity of this poorly studied but extremely diverse group. Pictures: Joan J. Soto-Angel and Doris Björling.
From Praveen Raj, PhD student, University Museum of Bergen
I had a fantastic time at the NOAH workshop coordinated by Joan and Luis. During the week, I helped organizing the NOAH hydrozoan collection: over 1200 samples of benthic hydroids, hydromedusae and siphonophores that has been collected and/or examined over the past 2.5 years. In addition, I also gave a hand photographing larger specimens that would not fit under the microscope. I thoroughly enjoyed these two tasks I was entrusted with. The photography part was especially rewarding, as Joan shared his macro photography tips, which greatly improved my skills. Meeting passionate researchers working on hydrozoan diversity and being part of this vibrant hydrozoan community at the University Museum of Bergen is truly inspiring.
From Lea Dober, Staff Engineer, University Museum of Bergen
In my first week as technician at the University Museum, I was introduced to hydrozoans; quite different to my usual chaetognath suspects I have been working with during my Master thesis. Although hydrozoans are small and delicate creatures, they sure take up a large space in the museums’ collection! So that week we faced one big challenge: Sorting and organizing the entire NOAH hydrozoan collection. Quite some work, but the spirits and motivation were high – how could it be any different with the lovely company of experts from Spain, Mexico and Sweden which were super focused and busy with identifying the most difficult hydrozoans. Not even the call for lunch could lure them away from their microscopes! In the end we managed to sort everything and were rewarded with delicious food and the knowledge that we moved multiple steps further with the NOAH project in only one (intense) week.
Figure 4. During the workshop, Praveen and Lea helped organizing in a more efficient way the entire NOAH collection. Now the samples are easily findable and accessible. Praveen also took care of the largest specimens in the collection, documenting them through macro photography. Thank you both very much for all your hard work! Pictures: Joan J. Soto-Angel and Praveen Raj.
From Fran Ramil and Jose Ansín Agís, Professor and Researcher (resp.), University of Vigo.
Figure 5. Fran and Jose brought their extensive expertise on Macrocolonia to the workshop. They are very good at finding the most subtle details that even experienced observers would easily overlook. Thanks to them, we now have a better overview on certain relevant families such as Haleciidae and Aglaopheniidae. They are not only very good at what they do, but also kind-hearted, always willing to share their immense knowledge. It’s been fantastic to have you both at UiB! Pictures: Joan J. Soto-Angel.
The traditional taxonomy, based on morphological features, together with molecular approaches for hydroid identification posed an exciting challenge during the workshop, mainly within controversial taxa, like Haleciids, Aglaopheniids and “Anthoathecata”. The preliminary results are very promising and may lead to new advances in hydroid taxonomy.
Thanks Joan, thanks Luis for inviting us and organizing such a productive and wonderful meeting. Great work!
Figure 6. Group picture just before celebrating a successful workshop. What a better way to end a fantastic week full of hydroids and friends than a cake especially made for the occasion by our very own Vincent. But the question is: Is it a Tubulariidae or Corymorphiidae? What do you think? Pictures: Unidentified, kind citizen in Bergen and Joan J. Soto-Angel. Cake by Vincent McDaniel.
This year started with an exciting adventure, the kind that most marine biologists dream about since we were kids: an Antarctic expedition.
As part of the Manet Team’s ongoing projects exploring the diversity of polar jellies and polyps, we joined the Challenge-2 Team from University of Barcelona led by Elisenda Ballesté and Conxita Ávila, a fantastic group of highly motivated researchers from all career stages accompanied by expert divers taking good care of the challenging underwater operations. The goal: evaluate the anthropogenic impacts that can affect wildlife in this pristine environment. For Joan, this was the second time in the white continent, but the prospects of diving in its glacial waters and witness their underwater wonders was beyond exciting. For Luis, this was his first time, and not only he found tones of interesting species and enjoyed birdwatching rare Antarctic species, but also had to “fight for his life” against a very brave, young sea lion, quite curious about the intertidal work he was doing.
Figure 1. Luis and Joan from the Manet Team (UiB) joining the Challenge-2 Team (University of Barcelona) for an Antarctic Expedition on board BIO Hesperides. Prior to the cruise, we had the chance to explore and do some hikes around Ushuaia. (Picture credit: Liam de Haan, Elihú Rivera).
We step on board the Spanish research vessel BIO Hesperides in Ushuaia (Argentina) at the beginning of January, crossed the Drake Passage in just a few days, and spent most of the 6-weeks cruise around the magnificent west side of the Antarctic Peninsula and Orkney Islands, before disembarking in Punta Arenas (Chile) by mid-February. The breathtaking Antarctic scenery was complemented by the diverse wildlife that calls this region home. We were fortunate to observe a multitude of seabirds like majestic albatrosses, playful petrels, not-so-playful Antarctic skuas, and the enigmatic snowy sheathbill. We also encountered several species of penguins —including the iconic Gentoo and Adélie penguins— and marine mammals —including a myriad of humpback whales, the spine-chilling leopard seals, massive sea elephants, and curious crab eater seals—which were a delight to watch as they waddled across the ice and slid into the water. Their graceful and sometimes funny movements were a constant reminder of the rich biodiversity thriving in these remote waters, while adding a touch of magic to our scientific endeavors.
Figure 2. Diverse Antarctic wildlife (other than jellies and polyps) and the dramatic scenery we came across as we navigated along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. (Picture credit: Joan J. Soto-Angel).
However, the creatures that truly captured our excitement were, of course, the jellyfish and polyps we encountered. Prior to throwing our nets (or ourselves) into the cold unknown, we had to carefully plan our sampling protocols and set realistic, yet ambitious goals. Obtaining high-quality samples in one of the most isolated and extreme environments on Earth is certainly a challenge, but when done adequately and in a safe way, it can also be lot of fun. We targeted both planktonic stages (hydromedusae, siphonophores, ctenophores and tunicates) we collected using a brand new WP3 net, and benthic ones (hydroids) we collected while diving in icy waters around the freezing point.
Figure 3. Sampling in Antarctic waters is a fun challenge. We deployed our new WP3 net 17 times, collecting several hundreds of jellies. Diving was an unforgettable experience, and it translated into high-quality samples of rare species that will be analyzed back in the lab at UiB. (Picture credit: Joan J. Soto-Angel, Víctor Lorente, Eduard Rovira).
We collected over 50 different species of jellyfish and polyps, some of which had never been documented in this region before. Each specimen we retrieved was meticulously photographed and cataloged. These fascinating organisms, often overlooked in the grand tapestry of marine life, play crucial roles in the ecosystem. But how are we going to evaluate potential impacts in the ecosystems if we don’t even have a good knowledge of the true diversity that thrives in these extreme environments? That’s precisely both our mission and the reason why we had the chance to join this fantastic opportunity. Our small team of two focused on studying the diversity and distribution of Hydrozoa, as part of our project POLE2POLE (MSCA, Horizon2020), which investigates the phenomenon of bipolarity in the group. The data we gathered will not only help us comprehend the ecological roles these organisms play, but also shed light on how they may be impacted by anthropogenic factors such as pollution and climate change in the (very) near future.
Figure 4. A small selection of some of the beauties we collected during our Antarctic expedition, including A. Arctapodema ampla, B Koellikerina maasi, C Ectopleura antarctica, D Leuckartiara brownei, E Phialella belgicae. (Picture credit: Joan J. Soto-Angel).
In addition to exciting material for our research projects, the expedition provided us with invaluable opportunities to engage with our comrades at Challenge-2 and the scientific community on board. Collaborating with researchers from various institutions, we discussed the implications of our research and explored ways to mitigate the impacts of human activities on this fragile ecosystem. As we concluded our expedition, we left with a profound appreciation for the Antarctic’s beauty and the complexity of its ecosystems, as well as some seed ideas for potential future research projects in the area. The experiences shared on board the BIO Hesperides, from witnessing the majestic wildlife to uncovering the hidden diversity of jellyfish and polyps, reinforced our commitment to studying and preserving this remarkable region. Through projects like Challenge-2 and POLE2POLE, we hope to contribute to a greater understanding of the Antarctic diversity, and advocate for its conservation for generations to come.
In addition to the activities during the family day on Sunday 6th within the context of One Ocean Week 2025, we had a behind-the-scenes special session at Litteraturhuset called “Exploring marine life”, where some of us at the Invertebrate Collections shared our recent field trips and research activities, and the cool creatures we encounter when we venture into the wild ocean.
First, Aino opened the event and showed that the Museum not only have fantastic exhibitions, but also passionate and talented researchers that keep producing new biodiversity knowledge at worldwide scale.
Aino opening the session “Exploring marine life” at the One Ocean Week 2025 in Bergen. Picture credit: Alexandre Jan and Joan J. Soto-Angel
This year’s lecturers, Sophie, Joan, Nataliya and Praveen introducing how we at the Museum explore and study biodiversity. Picture credit for the next 4 photos: Alexandre Jan and Sophie Steinhagen
Sophie was the first speaker to open the lectures. She guided us on the importance of macro and microalgae for basic and applied research, and how fundamental it is at many levels to be able to tell species apart.
Sophie and the talk “From green waves to green farms”
Joan invited us to join him on a trip to the remote polar regions. He shared some of the highlights he found while chasing rare polyps and jellyfish. He also explained the challenges associated with working in extreme environments, how crucial jellyfish are for the normal functioning of marine ecosystems, and the little we know about most of them.
Joan and “Hunting jellyfish at the edge of the world”
Nataliya shared outstandingly beautiful pictures of the commonly misunderstood worms. She illuminated everyone in the audience with the great variety of shapes, colors and life strategies that worms come in. From intertidal animals to deep sea inhabitants, she gave many examples on how unearthly their ways of surviving and thriving can be.
Nataliya and her talk “Why do we need to study marine worms?”
Praveen closed the session with a comprehensive talk on jellyfish diversity in Norway, focusing on the work he is doing as part of his PhD with the poorly known but mesmerizing siphonophores and the vastly unexplored Norwegian Sea.
Praveen presenting the talk “Beware the Beauty: Norway’s Stunning and Stinging Jellyfish”
The lectures constituted an opportunity for everyone in Bergen to take a closer look at our work at the Invertebrate Collections, and we genuinely enjoyed sharing our favourite creatures with a crowd avid to know more about natural wonders. We are already looking forward to One Ocean Week 2026!
-Joan
You can read about our participation on Family Day during One Ocean Week here:
The three-masted barque Statsraad Lehmkuhl, decked out for a week of ocean festivities. Photo: Katrine Kongshavn
The “Ocean City Bergen” was especially ocean-themed between April 5th to 11th during the annual One Ocean Week.
One Ocean Week – held every April – features more than 150 events, stretching from conferences, summits and meetings to family experiences and cultural activities.
The marine group of the Natural History Department wanted in on the fun this year as well*, and signed up to run two activities:
🎪🧪🔬a big stand at the outdoor science fair on Family Day, and
✨🪼🪱💚 an evening event with a series of short popular science talks in the Literature House on April 9th.
Going chronologically, we start with a post about the FAMILY DAY, which took place on Festningskaien on Sunday April 6th.
Photos: Joan J. Soto-Angel (UiB), Katrine Kongshavn (UiB), Ross Robertson (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama)
We brought five activities:
Jellyfish doctor 🪼🩺
Bipolar animals 🐧🗺️🐻❄️
A homemade marine edition of the “Guess Who?” game 😶🌫️
Micro-snails and coloring plates 🐌🎨🖍️
A game of trying to “Guess the baby” belonging to various marine animals based on their baby pictures. 👶->😊 🐛->🦀
Images of the five different activities: a) Guess Who? b) Guess the baby, c) Bipolar animals, d) jellyfish doctor e) colouring of microgastropoda (Photos: Katrine Kongshavn, Praveen Raj)
It is so, so impressive to see how quickly kids grasp the different concepts, and how much they know already!
Even so, there’s always something new to learn – and it’s really fun to get to be the one to teach someone something cool about what lives in the sea!
We had a steady stream of kids – and adults! – wanting to test out the various activities, and the hours flew by!
A lot of thought (and crafting!) has gone into the activities to make them both fun and educational, so it was great to see that they were popular! Photos: Nataliya Budaeva, Katrine Kongshavn, Vincent McDaniel
Thank you so much both to our wonderful team of students and staff that made and ran the activities, and all the visitors!
-Katrine
Our other event, “Exploring marine life”, gets a post to itself, you can find it here:
It is once again time for One Ocean Week in Bergen, 5th-11th of April 2025. You can read more about the event on the home page.
The University museum will participate in several ways, one of them is that you can come and meet most of our “marine team” during the Family Day outdoor event!
Date: 06 April Time: 12.00–16.00 CET Location: Festningskaien, Bergen (map link)
Open for all, and free of charge!
Photos: Joan J. Soto-Angel (UiB), Katrine Kongshavn (UiB), Ross Robertson (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama)
Marine biologists from the department of Natural History at the University Museum will be on stand, ready to tell you all about sharks, jellyfish, and less known animals like the bristle worms and snails.
There will be several activities; you can try our quizzes, test out our new board game, be a jellyfish doctor, learn more about bipolar animals living on the North- and South poles!
We’re happy to run the activities in both Norwegian and English (and can between us cover about 8 other languages too 😊). Hope to see you there!
From the 13th to 20th of October, we were on fieldwork again! This time the end destination was Sletvik field station. Sletvik field station belongs to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU). The team of NorDigBryo (digitization of Norwegian Bryozoa) had organized a workshop there and team snail was invited to tag along for the opportunity to collect some snails around the area. So there the three of us traveled from Bergen up North; Jon and Katrine for the Bryozoan workshop and me for the Lower Heterobranchia and Pyramidellidae project.
The travel from Bergen to Trondheim takes more than 10 hours! For such a long travel we of course needed to take several breaks throughout the day. But with a bunch of biologists on the way it was very difficult to not sample during those stops whenever we had the opportunity (1).
1. Sampling on our way, together with Jon & Katrine visiting several harbors. Photo: Cessa Rauch, UiB.
After a very long day, we finally arrived at our end destination; Sletvik field station. This would be our home for the coming week. The station has great facilities with different laboratories, a cantina with 3 meals a day being served by the kitchen staff and sleeping facilities. There is space for up to 40 students, so with just 10 of us we had a ton of space (2).
2. The Sletvik field station from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU). Photo: Cessa Rauch, UiB.
The Sletvik field station is located on the small peninsula called Slettvik; surrounded by mostly water makes it an excellent location for marine related fieldwork. Despite the relatively small size of the peninsula, it has a surprising number of different habitats; there are seagrass meadows, sea bottoms covered in encrusting coralline algae and due to strong tidal currents, a very vibrant and diverse marine life (3).
3. Sampling from land…or in the water! From different marine habitats! Photos: Cessa Rauch, UiB.
Therefore, we used several days that week to collect fresh material from around the area: by using nets or hands either from land or while in the water snorkeling (4).
4. Snorkeling for samples in strong tidal current right under the little bridge, with Jon and Cessa. Photo Katrine Kongshavn, UiB.
The strong tidal currents are what a lot of the Pyramidellid species absolutely love! Not the least because it attracts high diversity of their hosts that they parasite on (5). Places with lot of current have large influx of nutrients and are well oxygenated which often results in high diversity, such as the well-known Saltstraumen area in Nordland. Therefore, it was easy to collect them as the snails were so abundant.
5. Hard to spot the small snails, here Odostomia turrita (blue circle) crawling away from its host Serpullid worm (white with blue fringes). Photo: Cessa Rauch, UiB.
But it became clear quickly that a few species were quite dominant. The four most common Pyramidellid species in the shallow tidal currents around Sletvik were Odostomia turrita; Brachystomia scalaris; Spiralina spiralis and Parthenina intersincta (6). Although Pyramidellidae snails are often very difficult to identify, these fours exhibited very typical characteristics which made it somewhat easy to name them to species level (7).
6. 4 of the most common species found in Sletvik: Left up; Odostomia turrita, left down; Brachystomia scalaris, right up; Spiralina spiralis, right down; Parthenina intersincta. Photo: Cessa Rauch, UiB
7. Doodles of the most recognizable characters of different common species in Sletvik. Photo: Cessa Rauch, UiB.
However, we still will extract DNA from these animals to confirm species, as it still can happen that we are having snails that are very similar and might have been misidentified in the field. That is why it is important to fix the collected snails in ethanol, so the tissue and DNA in it stays preserved. All collected material will then go back to the University Museum of Bergen to be further used for microscopy, morphological analysis, DNA extractions and eventually become part of the collection of the museum.
After one week, with hours of sorting through collected material, we managed to collect and identify 15 different species; the most so far of any fieldwork so we can say that Sletvik is truly a snail heaven!
Don’t miss out in the coming exhibition at the University Museum! Jellyfish unveiled will be open 4.-30. October
at Muséplassen 3 in Bergen (link)
Feared and misunderstood, jellyfish are often dismissed as little more than ocean pests. Over 100 species of jellies live in Norwegian waters, but most people are unaware of the delicate balance they bring to marine ecosystems. Which roles do they play? Why should we care about them?
The exhibition Jellyfish unveiled, created by the “Manet Team” at the Department of Natural History and the Michael Sars Centre at the University of Bergen, invites you to explore new perspectives on jellyfish and the impact they have on the ocean. Changing the way we think about jellyfish can be challenging, but these images offer a unique glimpse into the positive aspects of their lives and the crucial contribution they make to our waters.
After the Summer break the hunt for small snails continues. This time the museum staff got invited by Vivian Husa from the Institute of Marine Research and Erling Svensen underwater photographer and author of Marine fish & invertebrates of Northern Europe to come and help with marine biodiversity assessment in Egersund.
Egersund is a small village at the southwest side of Norway and strangely has almost no difference in height between low and high tide. The tidal range is close to zero due to the presence of a tidal node, which there are several off around the globe. This all makes Egersund a very interesting place to hunt for snails (and other marine organisms)!
Our stay was at a very special place; a lighthouse, called Viberodden (1).
(1) Vibberodden fyr from the Eigersund Arkivinstitusjon.
The Viberodden lighthouse is build on a small island 15 minutes’ drive with boat from Egersund city center. Today it is run by the so-called Viberodden friends’ foundation (Viberodden venner). They rent out the lighthouse to be able to cover the costs for maintenance and cultural activities. The lighthouse was originally built to secure entrance to Egersund in 1855 and has been upgraded several times since. The lighthouse was manned until 1977, when it became fully automatic. In 2007 the Viberdden friends’ foundation rehabilitated the entire lighthouse, and they are still in charge of upkeeping today. We therefore also want to thank the foundation for the hospitality and the possibility for us to use the lighthouse as a research station for the week!
Once we arrived in Egersund, Erling would be waiting for us with his boat to drive us and a whole lot of equipment to the lighthouse (2).
(2) Erling Svensen (left) and Vivian Husa (right) organizers of the workshop on their way to the lighthouse. Photo Cessa Rauch, UiB.
During the week, we grew in number of participants and eventually the team existed of a mix of researchers from different institutions and companies with a variety of backgrounds. We had with us macroalgae, Bryozoan (moss animal), Ascidian (sea squirts), sea slug specialists and more (3).
(3) From left to right Bjørn Gulliksen professor emeritus from the Norwegian Arctic University, Erling Svensen and Bernard Picton curator of marine invertebrates, National Museums Northern Ireland, together in discussion. Photo Katrine Kongshavn, UiB.
From the museum we were also representatives of several different Norwegian taxonomy initiatives (artsprosjektet). There was “Digitization of Norwegian Bryozoans” (NorDigBryo), “Marine Amphipods: Diversity, Species Complex, and Molecular Studies” (MADAM) and of course “Lower Heterobranchia and Pyramidellidae of Norway”.
During the week we would collect several different habitats, from exposed kelp forests to blue mussel beds in the Egersund harbour. The lighthouse itself was built far out and therefore very exposed hence we were dependent on the weather for us to go out and collect. Luckily, we had a few good weather days that allowed us to snorkel while collecting samples (4).
(4) Snorkelling with Mette Eilertsen from Rådgivende Biologer AS. Photo Cessa Rauch, UiB.
To get our specimens we collected different habitats by using jars, nets and buckets and amazingly all our samples turned out to be rich in species (5 & 6).
(5) Beautiful diversity in species in Egersund, here two of the species Gonionemus vertens. Photo Cessa Rauch, UiB.
(6) Net with kelp after collecting. Photo Katine Kongshavn, UiB.
(7) Brushing mussels to get the little snails. Photo Katrine Kongshavn, UiB.
While searching for snails there was a clear preference of certain species to inhabit either exposed or sheltered environments, kelp or sandy bottoms. In one case we had to brush a lot of blue mussels to get to the Pyramidellidae (Odostomia turrita) that parasite on them and on the worms (Serpulidae) that grow their houses on the outside of the blue mussel shells (7).
But we also found certain species that crawled around in the mud (8) and others that were on the kelp (9).
All these new findings and collection building would not have been possible without the help of the organizers, participants and the possibility for us to stay at the Viberodden lighthouse and therefore we would like to thank Erling Svensen, Vivian Husa, Bernard Picton, Mette Eilertsen, Bjørn Gulliksen and Viberodden friends’ foundation! Thank you for a great and productive week!
