Social Feeds

Follow our field and lab adventures, and see behind the scenes of the collection below, or directly on Twitter (@BWWilliamsLab and @mccullermi) and Instagram (@bwwilliamslab). Also consider joining the Invertebrates, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences group on Facebook to keep up with broader invert goings-on at the Museum.

Tweets by BWWilliamsLab

Tweets by mccullermi

bwwilliamslab

Non-molluscan Invertebrate Unit (Dr. Bronwyn Williams & team), NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC🦞🕸🐛 etc. Driven by passion & coffee #1001Jars

It’s #fridaythe13th - woooo - which really means

It’s #fridaythe13th - woooo - which really means nothing other than it’s a Friday that happens to fall on the 13th day of the first month of this new year. Nevertheless, it is worth celebrating. 🥳

On this day 86 years ago - January 13, 1937 - Christopher Behrens collected several specimens ~1 mile outside of the jetty at Ft. Pierce Inlet, Florida. These specimens were deposited in the @charlestonmuseum Collection, where they remained for over 75 years before being transferred to @naturalsciences. I randomly picked two of the crustacean lots from Behrens’ efforts to show you here.

The first is a singleton Yellowline Arrow Crab, Stenorhynchus seticornis, that has clearly gone through some things post-sampling. Only one of its legs remains attached to the body. Now, to be fair, I’m certain most of the Arrow Crab specimens in the @naturalsciences NMI Collection are in pieces; those long, spindly legs are awfully delicate!

The second is one of 18 Shortspine Hairy Crab, Pilumnus dasypodus, specimens. These are tiny! Note the scale bar in the image: 2 mm. This little crab is only ~6 mm carapace width. Pretty adorable, I must say.

So happy Friday everyone, and may those #FridayVibes be crustacean.

#fridaymood #fridayfeeling #crustacean #crustaceans #crab #crabs #crabsofinstagram #museumcollection #museumcollections #1001jars #museum #museums #marinebiology #ocean #onthisday #onthisdayinhistory #otd

The @naturalsciences Non-molluscan Unit received t

The @naturalsciences Non-molluscan Unit received the most incredible gift from @cynannlincoln: a mascot!
More crab* “behind the scenes” coming your way.

*Crab needs a name, and we want your help! Participate in the poll on my story and/or comment here.

#1001Jars #MuseumCollections #museum #crab #crustacean #crustaceans #crustaceacollection #findthecrab #collections #collectionmanagement

Starting off the New Year with some specimen TLC.

Starting off the New Year with some specimen TLC. @can_of_jeans is soaking specimens the @naturalsciences NMI Collection recently acquired from @unccharlotte - Dr. Ed Menhinick’s collection.

What do we mean by “soaking?” From what we can determine, most of these specimens were housed in isopropyl alcohol. We want to store them long term in 70-95% ethanol. But moving the specimens directly into the new preservative is problematic. We need to remove as much of the isopro from the specims as possible, to ultimately allow the ethanol to infiltrate it.

How do we do this? We soak the specimens in water, effectively “floating off” the isopropyl alcohol. If the water becomes cloudy, we tip it off and soak for another round. We keep doing this until (a) the water stays clear and (b) we don’t see any isopro tendrils exiting the specimen. At that point the specimen goes into our final* ethanol preservative.

*final isn’t truly final. We regularly do ethanol checks in the collection, looking for evaporation and topping off where needed. We also periodically do random ethanol concentration checks, ensuring it doesn’t drop below 70%.

#1001jars #collectionsareessential #museum #museumcollection #museumcollections #curator #museumspecimen #invertebrates #invertebrate #labwork #cnidarians #cnidaria #behindthescenes

Several years ago, Alvin Braswell, Emeritus Curato

Several years ago, Alvin Braswell, Emeritus Curator of Herpetology at @naturalsciences , collected several clam shrimp in a vernal pool in eastern North Carolina. (Surprise, surprise, he was herping.) We kept these little crustaceans alive in the lab for a bit; they are awfully entertaining.

They are now housed in the @naturalsciences Non-molluscan Invertebrates Collection; surprisingly only one of a couple dozen vouchered records of this class (Branchiopoda) in the Collection. Clam shrimp are undoubtedly common in North Carolina, but frequently overlooked!

🎶 Crazy Crazy Crazy by Smokey Hormel (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).

#crustaceans #crustacea #freshwaterscience #freshwaterecology #freshwater #1001jars #collections #collectionsareessential #conservation #northcarolina #NCNature #branchiopoda #branchiopods #bathbeads #crazy #roundboi #biology #ephemeral #aquatic

The Carolinas #Crayfish #Crustmas Countdown ends t

The Carolinas #Crayfish #Crustmas Countdown ends today with this image, showing the four most recent additions to the crayfish fauna of North and South Carolina. Included here are two species that we hope to reveal very soon; the descriptions are currently in review.

Did you know that that North Carolina and South Carolina boast 49 (soon 51) and 37 named species, respectively, with quite a bit of overlap (20 species)? That’s pretty neat, but in reality these numbers are sizable underestimates of the diversity in both states.

Much of this “hidden” diversity is currently subsumed within several widespread - and tricky (for many reasons) - species complexes. Disentangling these complexes is not easy; we are taking a highly collaborative and integrative approach, and as a result are able to make consequential conservation decisions in real time. Keep an eye out for amazing upcoming work by my lab @naturalsciences , @scdnr, @ncwildlife, @dr_crawdad, and other wonderful collaborators.

📸 @mikeypeepeee

#crayfish #crawfish #crustacean #crustaceans #arthropod #arthropods #freshwater #freshwaterconservation #conservation #1001jars #NC #NCNature #SC #SCNature #decapoda

Continuing the Carolinas #Crayfish #Crustmas Count

Continuing the Carolinas #Crayfish #Crustmas Countdown with this stripy North Carolina endemic. It’s the French Broad Crayfish, Cambarus reburrus, found in - you guessed it! - the upper French Broad River, but also the upper Savannah River and the Tuckasegee River.

Credit for this amazing photo goes to @mikeypeepeee

There is a lot about this species we don’t yet know, as it appears to be uncommon in inhabited systems. That said, there is some indication that the species is on the decline. Consequently, it is considered State Threatened in NC.

Have you ever wondered how, and why, species are named as they are/were? Cambarus reburrus is an interesting story. Rudolph Prins described the species in 1968 from specimens collected from a single locality in the Horsepasture River (upper Savannah). Right off the bat he mentions “setiferous chelae.” Five paragraphs into the description of the holotype he mentions setae 8 times! Well, Prins clearly though this species had hairy claws. And indeed, in a footnote, Prins writes “reburrus, L.-the hairy one; so named because of the setiferous chelipeds and other parts.”

Take a good look at the photo of the French Broad Crayfish. Those claws aren’t very hairy at all. And in fact, many crayfish species have small bristles covering their claws and carapace. You just have to look closely…

Regardless of this sort of post hoc analysis, the name is what it is based on the author’s perception. And so we have Cambarus reburrus.

#crustacean #crustaceans #NCNature #ncmountains #NC #conservation #freshwater #invertebratezoology #invertebratesofinstagram #invertebrate #invertebrates #25DaysofCrustmas #nomenclature

Recently, @megan.mcculler and I spoke with Trista

Recently, @megan.mcculler and I spoke with Trista Talton, staff writer for Coastal Review (CoastalReview.org). What came from it was a wonderful article that dropped yesterday. (I know the non-link link is a hassle, but you can find the article here: https://coastalreview.org/2022/12/spineless-specimens-may-hold-clues-for-coastal-researchers/). TL;DR - Museum collections are an invaluable and powerful resource. But please do read it! It’s short and impactful.

Although the collections @naturalsciences are housed behind the scenes, out of the public eye, they are NOT top secret! The NCMNS Non-molluscan Invertebrates Collection contains one of the largest and most historically important collections of marine invertebrates in - and of - the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.

Our online presence (e.g., on GBIF) is minimal at present for 🤯 *reasons*, but that WILL change. If you are interested in our holdings - which extend well beyond the marine realm - please reach out to me and/or Megan.

What questions can be addressed using these collections? Where to even begin? WE begin by getting the word out that we exist. Our goal is to be well known, well used, and well respected.

We are but one collection. Think of the power of NETWORKS of natural history collections, e.g., @naturalsciences + @asu_zoologicalcollections + @official_gmnh + @floridamuseum + @virginiamuseum + @smithsoniannmnh ++++

#invertebrates #CollectionsAreEssential #1001Jars #museum #museums #museumcollections #museumstogether #NC #NCNature #NCNatureFriday #conservation #marinebiology #museumcurator #invertebrate #invertebrateconservation #invertebratezoology #nccoast #deepsea

I love @mikeypeepeee ’s amazing crayfish photos,

I love @mikeypeepeee ’s amazing crayfish photos, but let’s mix it up a little bit for today’s Carolinas #Crayfish #Crustmas Countdown.

This is video I took years ago of a female Digger Crayfish, Creaserinus fodiens, that was collected in Wake County (by Alvin Braswell, I believe), and brought live to my lab @naturalsciences . At the time she was either berried, i.e., with eggs, or just beyond berry, i.e., with tiny helpless newly hatched juveniles attached. The juveniles had undergone multiple molts by the time this video was made, and were nearing the weaning stage.

Creaserinus fodiens is taxonomic nightmare, and undoubtedly what we see here will end up being described as something new. (A solemn nod here to @dr_crawdad , Paul Cabe and Sujan Henkanaththegedara.) The distribution of the species as it is now known is huge, ranging along the Atlantic Slope from Maryland south into South Carolina, and the Gulf Coast from Texas east to the Florida panhandle, with a northward extension all the way up to Ontario, Canada.

In North Carolina we find it throughout much of the Coastal Plain and into the lower Piedmont in the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Tar drainages.

This female is awfully patient with her hyperactive offspring. Well, patient to a point…

#25DaysofCrustmas #1001jars #museumcollections #crustacean #crustaceans #crawfish #crawdad #crawdads #freshwater #decapod #decapods #NC #NCNature #CoastalPlain #Piedmont #invertebratesofinstagram #invertebrates #invertebrate

Next up in the Carolinas Crayfish Crustmas Countdo

Next up in the Carolinas Crayfish Crustmas Countdown is this little stunner, the Chowanoke Crayfish, Faxonius virginiensis. This species has a fairly narrow distribution, restricted to the Chowan and lower Roanoke River basins in North Carolina and Virginia.

This is a species of Special Concern, in part due to impacts of the invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Frustratingly, a second invader - the Ozarkae Crayfish, Faxonius ozarkae - is rapidly making its way down the Roanoke system, and is likely to also affect the long-term stability of the Chowanoke Crayfish.

Have you hugged a native crayfish today?

Photo by @mikeypeepeee

@naturalsciences #Crustmas #25DaysofCrustmas #crustacean #crustaceans #crustaceansofinstagram #crayfish #crawfish #crawdads #freshwater #conservation #NC #NCNature #piedmont #1001jars #invertebrates #invertebrate

I hereby declare the Carolinas Crayfish Crustmas C

I hereby declare the Carolinas Crayfish Crustmas Countdown. Starting things off is the jolly Red Burrowing Crayfish, Cambarus carolinus, described in 1846 from specimens collected (presumably from burrows) along Wildcat Creek, near Greenville, South Carolina. This species is known from the mountains of northwestern South Carolina, western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee.

The Red Burrowing Crayfish is a primary borrower. If any of you have tried to dig this species you will know its burrows are multi-branched and convoluted! Add in that the species’ typical habitat is wetlands/bogs, and you have a recipe for a fun excavation. 😉

This amazing photo of Cambarus carolinus was taken by @mikeypeepeee; the photo of me after digging Carolina carolinus is by @cynannlincoln

#25DaysofCrustmas #crustmas #crustacean #crustaceans #crustaceansofinstagram #crayfish #freshwater #NCNature #ncmountains #NC #scmountains #1001jars

It has been a while since we have properly posted

It has been a while since we have properly posted for #WormWednesday!

I managed to convince @can_of_jeans to help me with this one. The video is to give you a peek down our row of worms. So. Many. Worms.

We have numerous “worm” phyla in the NMI Collection (e.g., flat worms, round worms, priapulids, acorn worms, peanut worms, horseshoe worms, velvet worms, and more). But, this row is entirely annelids - segmented worms - and while we have a lot of leeches and soooooooo many crayfish worms, what you will mostly find in this row are polychaetes. What kinds of polychaetes? Muwahahahaha.

I present to you a select floof-chaete experience.

1. Marphysa sanguinea (Red-gilled Marphysa). Oyster Bar, Bird Shoal, Beaufort. Coll. 11 July 1968 by Marine Ecology Class.

2. Parasabella micropthalma. Duke Marine Lab docks, Pivers Island, Beaufort. Coll. 17 June 1971 by R.M. Shelley.

3. Spirobranchus giganteus (Christmas Tree worm). Coral, Cape Lookout outcrop, North Carolina. Coll. 1 February, 1967 by L.R. McCloskey.

4. Loimia medusa (Medusa worm). Jetty on North Shore, Radio Island, Beaufort. Coll. 3 January, 1979 by J.C. Clamp.

Photos by @ian__cook

#polychaete #polychaetes #marinebiology #oceanlife #invertebrate #invertebrates #invertebratesofinstagram #1001jars #museumcollections #collectionsareessential #worm #worms #floofy

I was reading through a 30 year old report, trying

I was reading through a 30 year old report, trying to track down data related to specimens in the @naturalsciences Non-molluscan Invertebrates Collection, and stumbled across two amazing descriptions of field sites.

It made me realize that I have to be much MUCH better at recording - in detail - sampling events, perhaps not for my benefit, but for the benefit of whoever may read them in the future.

I recall, for example, a sampling trip in Franklin County (I believe), when Dr. Heather Evans (@ncwildlife geneticist) tripped while wading in a creek, and put a hand out to steady herself on a rock, to discover it wasn’t a podostemum-covered rock as we had all thought, but rather a very bloated raccoon carcass. In the ensuing panic, @megan.mcculler and I waded to the raccoon and shifted it aside to see if there was a crayfish hiding underneath.

There was. And Heather was okay, following a brief ethanol douse.

What odd field stories do you have?

#science #CollectionsAreEssential #FieldWorkFail #FieldWork #DirtyJobs #Freshwater #FreshwaterBiology #1001Jars #WorkingDog

Some things are just right under your nose! While

Some things are just right under your nose!

While databasing these dried sea stars, Astropecten americanus, in the @naturalsciences Non-molluscan Invertebrates Collection, there was a small pile of sand and spines - at least, that’s what it appeared to be at first - to the right-hand corner of the archival box that they're kept in. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there were more than just sea stars inside of this box. We carefully removed any smaller organisms that we could see into a separate glass vial - smaller than our pinkies - to get a better look. Under a dissecting microscope, we had a much better view of what we had, shriveled as they might have been, and we came across a huge surprise! It turned out that we had critters from three different phyla: some kind of crustacean, hydroid stalks (cnidarians), and part of a sabellid worm (annelid)! As the cherry on top, we found foraminiferans all over the hydroid stalks! Did you recognize any of these organisms?

If we identified these organisms correctly, there's much to be excited about. Not only do we have more specimens to add into our collection, but we also learn more about the biological community and habitat that these organisms were collected from. With these sea stars, and their tinier friends, collected in 1966 off the coast of North Carolina, we're given a glimpse of the ecological history of that particular collection site at that particular time! How cool! Tell us what you think about these findings in the comments below!

Post and pics by @can_of_jeans

#1001jars #DigInverts #museumcollection #museumcollections #collectionsareessential #seastar #seastars #invertebrate #invertebratesofinstagram #invertebrates #sealife #marinebiology #curation

When your work involves collections management at

When your work involves collections management at a natural sciences museum, no two days are alike, and you never know what to expect.

Today’s unexpected excitement was the unloading of a nearly 500 lb sharptail mola, Masturus lanceolatus, that washed ashore and died on the beach on Topsail Island, NC earlier this week. It is in remarkably good condition given the circumstances, and will soon start the lengthy process of being prepped for integration into the @naturalsciences Fishes Collection.

This stranding is a rare occurrence, and certainly generated a lot interest out on Topsail! The sunfish is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but…we - in my lab - are really interested in seeing what parasite communities it may harbor. All I can say at this point is “stay tuned.”

#museum #museums #museumcollection #marinebiology #sunfish #marinefish #parasite #parasites #curator #dirtyjobs #collectionsareessential #1001jars #naturalhistory

We are on a 3D modeling tear! Why? Bear with me, I

We are on a 3D modeling tear! Why? Bear with me, I’ll get to it.

This is a model of Agaricia fragilis, a hat coral, which came to the @naturalsciences via the recent acquisition of @morrillhallunl ‘s (UNSM) extant marine invertebrate collection. This coral was collected summer of 1907 near Long Island, Bermuda, by Erwin H. Barbour. You can find - and interact with - this model, and a few of our others, on our @sketchfab page: sketchfab.com/NCSMNMI (Note: we have uploaded only a small number of the models we have reconstructed to Sketchfab at this time.)

Why are we making 3D models? Well, for many, many reasons, not least of which is to provide everyone the opportunity to interact (virtually, or directly via 3D prints of the models) with invaluable, historical, and just plain cool organisms that are otherwise cared for behind-the-scenes in the NCMNS Non-molluscan Invertebrates Collection. This hat coral was a historical educational component of the University of Nebraska State Museum (@morrillhallunl); although the physical specimens are now with us, in Raleigh, North Carolina, these 3D models will allow the UNSM to integrate the specimens into education and outreach in novel ways!

But why are we on such a modeling tear NOW? Our Unit, in partnership with the @naturalsciences Naturalist Center (#NaturalistCenterNC) has an intern, Emily Sandberg, who is using 2D images and 3D models of specimens, historical documents, and historical exhibitry to create virtual - online - interactive exhibits. These exhibits will be a shallow dive (initially) into the stories behind collections: the what, why, who, where, and how. Stay tuned!

#1001jars #collectionsareessential #3dmodel #3dmodeling #museumcollection #museum #museums #sketchfab #science #scicomm #coral #museumcurator #museumstogether #collaboration #marinebiology

Welp, this @gameofcrabs expansion pack had some un

Welp, this @gameofcrabs expansion pack had some unintended consequences. 🤔

Glyptoxanthus erosus, meet your imitation/clone Glyptoxanthus erosus…and your other imitation/clone Glyptoxanthus erosus.

It’s Friday 🤷🏻‍♀️

#gameofcrabs #crabs #crustacean #museumcollection #curator #museumcollections #crab #crustaceans #itsfriday

I’d say those 778 photos did a pretty good job o

I’d say those 778 photos did a pretty good job of reconstructing a first pass 3D model of one of our glass sponges. Do you agree? Some finessing is needed, particularly to get better resolution within the skeletal cluster and to better capture the distal spicules. Back to the camera!

This is a pretty darned awesome start, though!

#1001jars #glasssponge #glasssponges #marinebiology #museumcollections #collectionsareessential #sponge #3dmodeling #photogrammetry #photogrammetry3dscanning #oceanlife

And even more @bigthicketnps adventures. I was ama

And even more @bigthicketnps adventures. I was amazed at the diversity we encountered!

@megan.mcculler #invertebrates #invertebrate #spider #arachnids #arachnid #odonata #bigthicketnationalpreserve #bigthicketassociation #fieldwork

More @bigthicketnps adventures… @megan.mcculler

More @bigthicketnps adventures…

@megan.mcculler #bigthicketassociation #fieldwork

A few weeks ago, the entire NMI Unit (all three of

A few weeks ago, the entire NMI Unit (all three of us) made a lengthy road trip to @bigthicketnps for our first round of leech sampling - a project funded by the #bigthicketassociation.

Water was a bit more scarce than we anticipated (drought conditions), but it didn’t stop us from finding what we were looking for. Instead we got to do a lot of hiking through some amazing habitats!

Jean collected their very first leech - an Erpobdella - in a small cypress swamp. We only photodocumented the first, but there were many more that followed! Yay Jean! 🎉

A phenomenal team, in a phenomenal National Preserve, doing some phenomenal research! We look forward to round two!

@megan.mcculler #invertebrate #invertebrates #freshwater #leeches #leech #fieldbiology #fieldwork

Follow on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

There has been a problem with your Instagram Feed.