JOINT HAECKEL and EHRENBERG PROJECT: Reexamination of the Haeckel and Ehrenberg Microfossil Collections
as a Historical and Scientific Legacy, edited by Y. Tanimura and Y. Aita, pp. 1–5. National Museum of Nature andScience Monographs, No. 40, Tokyo 2009

Joint Haeckel and Ehrenberg Project “Reexamination of the Haeckel andEhrenberg Microfossil Collections as a Historical and ScientificLegacy”: a Summary
Yoshihiro Tanimura1, Akihiro Tuji2, Yoshiaki Aita3, Noritoshi Suzuki4,Kaoru Ogane4 and Toyosaburo Sakai3
1

Department of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum of Nature and Science,
3–23–1 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169–0073, Japan2
Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4–1–1, Amakubo, Tsukuba 305–0005, Japan3
Department of Geology, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321–8505, Japan
4
Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University,
6–3 Aoba Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980–8578, Japan
Corresponding Author: Yoshihiro Tanimura (tanimura@kahaku.go.jp)

Abstract As an introduction to this volume, the results of the reexamination of C. A. F. Castracane’s diatom collection and E. H. Haeckel’s radiolarian collection in the Natural History Museum inLondon, C. G. Ehrenberg’s diatom and radiolarian collections in the Museum für Naturkunde at theHumboldt University in Berlin, and Haeckel’s radiolarian collection from Messina in the ErnstHaeckel Haus in Jena are summarized.
Key words:
lections

Reexamination, C. A. F. Castracane, E. H. Haeckel, C. G. Ehrenberg, Microfossil Col-Introduction
In studies on the documentation of biodiversity through the geologic past to recent times andon geological age assignments and reconstruction of paleoceanographic environments by microfossils, classifications based on “types” are the main means for a common understanding of“species.” Conte Francesco Castracane degli Antelminelli (1817–1899) described about 260 newdiatom species and varieties from the materials collected during the voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger. Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834–1919) described 3,500 new radiolarian species from theChallenger Expedition and reported about 60 new living radiolarian species from the Mediterranean Sea at Messina. Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795–1876) described a thousand new diatom species and nearly 500 radiolarian species from material derived from all over the world. In
those days, however, the concept of “types” was not yet fully developed, and many species described by them have been ignored or even regarded as synonyms.
With careful curation, Castracane’s diatoms and Haeckel’s Radiolaria from the materials collected through the Challenger Expedition, the microfossil and microalgal collections of Ehrenberg, and Haeckel’s radiolarian collection from Messina are housed in the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, the Museum für Naturkunde at Humboldt University in Berlin, and theErnst-Haeckel Haus in Jena, respectively, as historical and scientific legacies of these great scien-2Y. Tanimura et al.

tists of the 19th century.
As one of the extensive activities of the Micropaleontological Reference Centers, the Joint
Haeckel and Ehrenberg Project, “Taxonomic reexamination of the Ehrenberg and Haeckel microfossil collections and reconstruction of the taxonomic image database of type specimens,” wasconducted for 2 years during fiscal years 2004 and 2005. During the reexamination, we accomplished the following: a list of all of Castracane’s diatom slides in the NHM, and designation oftypes for the species described by him; designation of types for diatom species described byEhrenberg to clarify Japanese diatom endemism; a list of the type species of 134 radiolarian genera whose type species were selected from Ehrenberg’s species by later authors; a list of all ofHaeckel’s radiolarian slides in the NHM, and capture by digital imaging of all radiolarian slides
and selected radiolarian specimens in the slides from Haeckel’s collection; identification and illustration of modern radiolarians from slides from the five Challenger plankton stations; capture
by digital imaging of all of the specimens prepared by Haeckel from Messina in the Ernst-Haeckel Haus; and capture by digital imaging of Neogene polycystine radiolarians and Paleogene-Neogene polycystine radiolarians of Barbados from the Ehrenberg Collection.
As a result of the above achievements, we have provided scientists with an open database ofCastracane, Haeckel, and Ehrenberg types/collections of diatoms and radiolarian taxa.
H.M.S. Challenger Expedition Collection in the NHM, London
Castracane (1886) described 259 new diatom taxa from the mud and plankton samples collected during the voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger [T-2 on CD]. Castracane’s diatom collection
consisting of 143 microscope slides from the voyage is housed in the NHM, London. We listed
all diatom preparations prepared by him from the Challenger Expedition materials [T-1 on CD].
Tuji et al. (2009) examined the collection for type slides, and discovered 17 type specimens.
Details of their type status and illustrations are provided in Tuji et al. (2009) [P-1 Tuji et al.,2009, Pl. 1–10, on CD].
No other slide collection exists of Castracane’s Challenger material. Some of the original
material collected during the Challenger Voyage is retained in the Mineralogy Department,NHM, and we prepared 27 diatom slides from newly collected subsamples from the original material. Specimens on the slides should be considered as isotype material in future studies (Tuji etal., 2009) [A-3 on CD].
Haeckel (1887) named and described 2,775 new polycystine radiolarian species from Challenger Expedition materials. Haeckel’s radiolarian collection is housed in the Micropalaeontology Section of the NHM in London. The collection consists of seven sets of 34 radiolarian“teaching” slides prepared by him and many plankton radiolarian slides made from the Challenger and other plankton stations. The teaching slide sets and the plankton slides are the only
available plankton materials left from the Challenger Expedition still available for research purposes, but some of the teaching slides are poorly preserved (Aita et al., 2009).
Aita et al. (2009) listed all of Haeckel’s radiolarian microscope slides in the NHM (Table 1 in
Aita et al., 2009) and prepared a locality list of recent slides and location map of the slides [A-1and -2 on CD]. They digitally captured images of all the slides and selected radiolarian specimens from each slide [P-2, Aita et al., 2009, Pl. 1–46; P-6, Aita et al., 2009, Figs. 1–8, both on
CD] and identified modern radiolarians based on the slides from the five Challenger plankton
stations: 269, 270, 271, 272, and 236 (Table 2 in Aita et al., 2009).
A nearly complete set of the original material collected during the Challenger Voyage isSummary of the Reexamination

3

housed in the Mineralogy Department, NHM, and we prepared 46 radiolarian slides based on
newly collected subsamples from the original material. They are of topotype status and invaluable resources for designating new types for Haeckel’s Radiolaria (Aita et al., 2009). [A-3 and -4,
for slide preparation procedure A-5, on CD].
E. H. Haeckel’s Radiolarian Collection in the Ernst-Haeckel Haus
Haeckel (1860a, 1860b, 1862) named and described 59 new polycystine radiolarian species
from Messina, and the slides examined by him are housed in the Ernst-Haeckel Haus in Jena,
Germany. The slides are kept in two wooden boxes labeled “Messina 1859.” Sakai et al. (2009)
found 16 species described by Haeckel and one species named by Müller from slides in the twoboxes. Sakai et al. (2009) digitally captured images of all the specimens from Messina in theboxes [P-3, Sakai et al., 2009, Pl. 1–23, on CD]. Further examination of Haeckel’s original slides
is still needed for taxonomic stability (Sakai et al., 2009).
C. G. Ehrenberg’s Collection in the Museum für Naturkunde at
Humboldt University, Berlin
Ehrenberg named and described a thousand diatom species that were mostly newly describedin Mikrogeologie (Ehrenberg, 1854). To understand Japanese diatom endemism, Tuji (2009) examined seven diatom species (Cocconeis lineata, Cocconeis placentula, Gallionella sculpta,
Gomphonema subtile, Gomphonema vibrio, Navicula rhomboides, Stephanodiscus sinensis) described by him using the materials in the Ehrenberg Collection, and designated lectotypes andepitypes for these seven taxa.
In addition to the history and status information of the Haeckel and Ehrenberg radiolariancollections, Lazarus and Suzuki (2009) provided a list of the correct dates regarding the publication of Ehrenberg’s papers, based on the printing date given in the original journal volumes(Table 1 in Lazarus and Suzuki, 2009).
Ehrenberg named and described a total of 501 radiolarian species belonging to 71 genera(Suzuki, 2009). The Ehrenberg Collection in the Museum für Naturkunde at Humboldt University includes the type specimens of 486 radiolarian species. Suzuki (2009) reviewed Ehrenberg’sstudies on polycystine radiolarians and listed the type species of 134 genera whose type species
are selected from Ehrenberg’s species by later authors (Table 1 in Suzuki, 2009). Using Ehrenberg’s original taxonomic drawings and the index volumes prepared by his daughter, ClaraEhrenberg, Suzuki et al. (2009b) and Ogane et al. (2009) digitally captured about 1150 radiolarian specimens from the Ehrenberg Collections. Suzuki et al. (2009a) examined and illustrated all
the remaining Neogene polycystine radiolarian specimens examined by Ehrenberg [P-4, Suzukiet al., 2009b, Pl. 1–77, on CD]. These specimens are candidate lectotypes (Suzuki et al., 2009b).
However, they did not designate types so as to avoid taxonomic confusion caused by a rigid application of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Ehrenberg (1846) examined “Barbados Earth,” and reported 282 species from the sample. Ogane et al. (2009) found 250
species from the collection, reexamined the species, and digitally captured images of eachspecies [P-5, Ogane et al., 2009, Pl. 1–98, on CD].
Lazarus (1998) and Lazarus and Jahn (1998) documented detailed procedures on how to findspecimens examined by Ehrenberg, and Suzuki et al. (2009a) additionally provide a guide forscientists on “how to find target specimens.”

4Y. Tanimura et al.

Remarks
We produced images of thousands of diatoms and radiolarian specimens digitally captured
from the C. A. F. Castracane, E. H. Haeckel, and C. G. Ehrenberg Collections in the 254 plates inthis volume, and listed all of Castracane’s diatom slides and all of Haeckel’s radiolarian slides in
the NHM. In addition to these, we prepared 73 diatom and radiolarian slides from the Challenger
Expedition materials.
For precise usage of the scientific names of diatoms and radiolarian species described byCastracane, Haeckel, and Ehrenberg, we provide scientists with digital images of the species as
an open database in this volume, and provide them with some collection lists for easy access tothe collections. To avoid confusion on taxonomic name usages, typification of the new taxa has
not been performed except for Castracane’s diatom specimens in the NHM and seven of Ehrenberg’s diatom specimens in the Ehrenberg Collection.
Acknowledgments
We thank the curators and researchers in the Natural History Museum in London, theWandsworth storage facility of the Natural History Museum, the Museum für Naturkunde at
Humboldt University in Berlin, and the Ernst-Haeckel Haus in Jena for providing full access tothe C. A. F. Castracane, E. H. Haeckel, and C. G. Ehrenberg Collections. Without their cooperation, this project would not have been possible.
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