The most important research program of the museum deals with decapod crustaceans. There are three focal points in this programm:
- neozoa of the Baltic and North Sea
- morphology and phylogeny of freshwater crabs and
- morphology and phylogeny of reproductive systems of brachyuran crabs.
The neozoan project focus on the invasive crabs species in the Baltic sea as Eriocheir sinensis and Rithropanopeus harrisii, and invasive species of the Wadden Sea as the Hemigrapsus. In several cooperations these species are studied ecologically, with population genetics and modern morphological methods. A key study was just finished with a pHd-Thesis regarding the situation of Eriocheir sinensis, with completely new results on ongoing invasion process of Eriocheir in the Baltic sea.
Additionally studies deal with invasive shrimp species in the Baltic sea and invasive decapods in freshwater systems in Schleswig-Holstein Freshwater crab projects at present work with crabs species from Laos (in a cooperation with Peter Jäger Senckenbergmuseum) and on the general phylogeny of old world freshwater crabs in particular of SE-Asia and the Himalayas. Cooperation partners are Dr. Christoph Schubart, University Regensburg, Dr. Sebastian Klaus, University of Frankfurt and Prof. Peter NG, University of Singapore. Main topic is the phylogeny of Old World freshwater crabs based on molecular and morphological methods.
In the third topic we mainly study the reproductive systems of crabs under different aspects. First aim is to understand the different morphotyes of receptaculaseminis as well as the sperm transfer strategies of crabs. This is done in a evolutionary and a taxonomic context, most interesting are in particular the heterotremate crabs.
- Functional morphology of brachyura
- Neozoa of the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters
- Taxonomy, systematics and biogeography with a special focus on the genus Colletes and the bee fauna of southern Africa.
bee taxonomy, systematics and biogeography with a special focus on the genus Colletes and the bee fauna of southern Africa. Both, Colletes bees and the biodiversity hotspot of the Greater Cape Floristic Region in western South Africa, are ideal models for studying evolutionary processes like flower specialization and the role of plant-pollinator interactions as drivers of diversification.
Link of the Research page : Research page
Link of the Annual report :
