Among the highlights of the collection is a series of Notocypraea declivis dennyorum Lorenz & Morrison 2013 from different localities. That subspecies has been described only in the year 2013 and the MSF owns a series of paratypes. A large Sassia sp., tentatively identified as parkinsoniana, may turn out to be new to science. Live-collected specimens of Pterochelis triformis, Philippa lutea, and Cancellaria lactea are rarely, if ever, seen. There are exceptional sets of perfect Phasianella australis and Callanaitis disjecta as well as outstanding specimens of Penion maximus, P. mandarinus, and Cabestana spengleri.
Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey
New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
The report of this survey given by Philippe Bouchet:
The first part of the Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey has taken place between June 1 and June 30, 2014, using the Nago Island Mariculture and Research Facility as a base and the services of Kavieng Scuba Ventures and PNG Explorer for sampling from small boats. The survey involved 35 participants from 12 countries ((France, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, USA, Columbia, Canada, and Papua New Guinea), representing about 880 persons-days in the field.
A total of 404 stations were surveyed - a few several times - in all habitats, covering the entire Kavieng lagoon between 0 and 45 meters, and consisting of 179 general dives (154 KR and 25 KZ; of which 35 were night dives), 44 suction samples (KS), 42 brushing baskets (KB), 37 shore sites (KM; includes replicates), and 87 dredging series (KD). In addition, 15 KM stations sampled freshwater streams.
Somewhere near 750 tanks were filled and the laboratory used about 900 liters of ethanol. The June field work will be followed by field work on board R.V. Alis in August-September (11-25 August: habitat description, algae, corals; 27 Aug.-7 Sept.: offshore / deep-water).