Scientists complete collection of sea creature specimens in southern Vietnam

Scientists from the Institute of Oceanography under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology have completed a collection of more than 20,000 specimens of sea creatures, with many new creatures discovered for the first time in Vietnamese waters or entirely new species.

Coral reefs in Ninh Thuan province (Photo: VNA)
Coral reefs in Ninh Thuan province (Photo: VNA)

This is the result of the component project “Developing a collection of marine creature specimens in the South of Vietnam” of the National Project on Building a National Collection of Natural Creature Specimens.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Oceanography Hoang Xuan Ben, who is responsible for directing the project, said that this is a large-scale and long-lasting project.

The project aims to obtain a set of specimens of about 50% of all marine species in the southern region for display and research that meet the standards of the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, and contribute to completing the collection of marine specimens of the national collection of natural specimens for research and display.

It also targets improving the research capacity and the skill of classifying sea creatures to support research on biodiversity to serve conservation and education on marine environment.