University of Louisiana gives collection of Smithsonian crustaceans
University of Louisiana gives collection of Smithsonian crustaceans
A university in Louisiana is giving the Smithsonian Institution a huge collection of crustaceans that, among other things, has been used to identify seafood mislabelled as coming from the Gulf of Mexico.
"This is a very important collection because it will rejuvenate our reserves" for the Gulf and nearby waters, said Dr. Rafael Lemaitre, curator of Smithsonian decapod crustaceans, that is, crabs, shrimps, lobsters and the like.
Friday's transfer ceremony at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette "is really going to be one of the highlights of my career here," he said in a telephone interview.
It is a diverse collection with approximately 2,000 species, said Dr. Darryl Felder, who oversaw its creation and growth during the 40 years prior to his retirement as a professor of biology in 2014. But its real value is that it has been preserved so that most Of the 100,000 samples can be used for genetic analysis, he and Lemaitre said.
"It has grown to the size that only the Smithsonian has the ability to maintain and maintain this genetic sequencing capability," said Felder.
The best preservative for that purpose is 95 percent of alcohol consumption, which must be changed regularly so it does not turn into vinegar.
Felder said he is also donating his own collection of 50,000 color photos of archived specimens.
Lemaitre said those are important because they were taken while the animals were alive. "When the specimens are conserved, they lose their color over time," he said.
He said many of the other specimens from the Smithsonian Gulf were taken when formalin, which damages DNA, was the most widely used preservative.
"Rum was widely used in the 19th century before formaldehyde," said Felder. "Some of the oldest specimens are sequenced by genes if they change it enough."
Many of the specimens were new to science when they were collected.
The new location of the collection in the suburbs of Maryland in Washington will be useful for consultations if a federal agency needs to verify the origin of the suspect seafood, Felder said.
Genetic analysis is also used for environmental studies and to track the evolution of a species or group of species, said Lemaitre.
Scientists record when and where each specimen was found. "It's like having a long memory both in space and time," said Lemaitre.
The university's database is compatible with the Smithsonian, so students and faculty will still be able to get everything that is known about each specimen, said Felder. "Not only that, but the millions of other specimens that have accumulated there for more than 100 years," he added.
Felder said the Smithsonian is paying for the move, "but it took some honest meetings ... here on campus: what's best for science?"
"I am proud of my institution for understanding the need for this to continue," he said.
Lemaitre said he does not know how much the move will cost. "I think we can do it in three trips for eight months," he said. Six Smithsonian employees were packing the first batch this week, he said.
"You think: 'A small vial with a dead specimen is not worth much', but in reality it is worth its weight in gold and much more, because collecting it costs a lot of money," said Lemaitre.
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