The Laboratory’s Parasitology Specimen Collection
(Central Museum of Helminthology
The Parasitology Specimen Collection (formerly the Central Museum of Helminthology) of the Institute of Parasitology named after K.I. Skryabin is a repository of one of the largest helminth collections in Russia that was replenished over a century as from collections of K.I. Skryabin, N.A. Kholodkovsky and V.A. Dogel to the present day.
The Parasitology Specimen Collection is currently part of the Biology and Biological Foundations of Prevention Laboratory and stores about 130,000 drugs, and covers over 2,000 helminth species from more than 700 species of animals and humans.
The Collection is divided into three parts:
1. Main Stock - it includes 24,143 depository items;
2. Demonstration Stock – 600 macro items to display
3. Reserve Stock – fully unrecorded.
The Golden Fund of the Collection is made up of reference specimens that are types of species discovered and described in our country. The holotypes have a special status of general scientific property. They are name carriers that provide credibility in zoological nomenclature. In total, the Type Collection includes 484 specimens of helminth species and subspecies.
2. Demonstration Stock – 600 macro items to display
3. Reserve Stock – fully unrecorded.
The Golden Fund of the Collection is made up of reference specimens that are types of species discovered and described in our country. The holotypes have a special status of general scientific property. They are name carriers that provide credibility in zoological nomenclature. In total, the Type Collection includes 484 specimens of helminth species and subspecies.
Samples of the Parasitology Specimen Collection serve as a bank of scientific information and the basis for fundamental and applied scientific research conducted by the VNIIP staff.
ВIn 2019, employees of the Biology and Biological Foundations of Prevention Laboratory, Alexander Khrustalev and Alexander Moskvin received a Certificate of Registration of the Database "Electronic Catalog of Parasitology Specimen Collection of the VNIIP – FSC VIEV RAS.
The database is an electronic catalog and information retrieval system that reflects the main fund of the Parasitology Specimen Collection and is the result of many years of work by the staff of the Museum of Helminthology and the Laboratory of Biology. A database element is a depository item, a preparation with a unique catalog number: an alcohol- or formalin-preserved wet mount, a microslide, or a gross specimen for demonstration.
For each depository item, basic (mandatory) information is indicated: the type of parasite, the type of the host, localization, geographical location of discovery, date and author of the collection, date and author of the definition; and additional information: the species belonging to higher taxa, number of individuals, parasite development stage, sex and age of the host, etc.; and technical information: preservation status, date of the preservative changed, etc.
The database is used to organize storage and replenishment of the Collection funds, and also provides an opportunity to obtain and systematize faunistic and taxonomic information based on the fund materials. An original intuitive interface has been developed in order to work with the database, which provides broad search capabilities and facilitates correct filling of the database.
ВIn 2019, employees of the Biology and Biological Foundations of Prevention Laboratory, Alexander Khrustalev and Alexander Moskvin received a Certificate of Registration of the Database "Electronic Catalog of Parasitology Specimen Collection of the VNIIP – FSC VIEV RAS.
The database is an electronic catalog and information retrieval system that reflects the main fund of the Parasitology Specimen Collection and is the result of many years of work by the staff of the Museum of Helminthology and the Laboratory of Biology. A database element is a depository item, a preparation with a unique catalog number: an alcohol- or formalin-preserved wet mount, a microslide, or a gross specimen for demonstration.
For each depository item, basic (mandatory) information is indicated: the type of parasite, the type of the host, localization, geographical location of discovery, date and author of the collection, date and author of the definition; and additional information: the species belonging to higher taxa, number of individuals, parasite development stage, sex and age of the host, etc.; and technical information: preservation status, date of the preservative changed, etc.
The database is used to organize storage and replenishment of the Collection funds, and also provides an opportunity to obtain and systematize faunistic and taxonomic information based on the fund materials. An original intuitive interface has been developed in order to work with the database, which provides broad search capabilities and facilitates correct filling of the database.