MANILA, Philippines – Filipino marine scientists are creating a snapshot of what’s in Philippine waters. Experts at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman have started to build their documentation and collection into a research museum.
In a building adjacent to the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI) is the Marine Biodiversity Resources and Information System. On the ground floor is a huge copy of the 1734 Murillo Velarde map.
MBRIS is called a national hub, a research museum, a “library of specimens.” It houses existing collections of corals, cone snails, seaweeds, fishes, and invertebrates.
In a glass box are the “Conidae of the Philippines.” The collection includes the Magician’s Cone (Conus magus), whose venom can be used as a painkiller.
Marine invertebrates are stored inside jars with reagent-grade ethanol. Some samples came from trawl fishing surveys in the Visayan and Samar seas.
