DigIn: Digitizing Invertebrate Biodiversity

Aside from collecting and preserving specimens, two crucial aspects of the IcyInverts team's work involves taking the best possible photos of living animals that we can prior to preservation and meticulous recording of all the associated data (who, what, when, and where) for each specimen. After the cruise, all of these images and data will be will made freely available through the Alabama Museum of Natural History via several online portals (see below), ensuring they are accessible to researchers worldwide.

Capturing High-Quality Images of Specimens
Taking high-quality photos of animals on the order of 1 mm to a few cm in size can be a challenge. Our photography setup is comprised of off-the-shelf equipment including a Canon 5D Mark IV body, a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens, speedlights, and a LMscope macro stand that essentially turns the camera into a stereomicroscope. Given the shallow depth of field inherent in macro photography, it would be great if we could employ focus stacking. This involves taking multiple images at varying focal points and merging them to produce a single, sharp image throughout. Unfortunately, that's just not possible on a moving ship with specimens in dishes of sea water. Instead, we use intense, diffused lighting and a quick shutter speed to try to minimize shadows and highlight true colors, ensuring the images are both scientifically useful and visually appealing. For really tiny animals, we rely on the excellent compound microscopes on board the NBP. Although we're not professional photographers, we've been very happy with the quality of images we are able to get while working quickly to process specimens in the lab while they are still happy.

Taking the best photos we can in the field is important because once specimens are preserved, they typically lose their color and/or shrivel up. Crustaceans, for example, often are brightly colored in life but typically appear off-white after preservation in alcohol.

Recording Detailed Specimen Data
Accurate data recording is paramount. For each specimen, we document:

• GPS Coordinates: Pinpointing the exact latitude and longitude of collection.
• Depth: Noting the depth or depth range at which the sample was collected.
• Identification: Determining the species or taxonomic classification. Often we are only able to say e.g., what genus or family a specimen belongs to.
• Identifier: Recording the name of the expert who identified the specimen.
• Identification Confidence: High, medium, or low confidence that that identification is accurate. Sometimes we do our best and later realize we got it wrong.
• Preservation Method: We preserve specimens in ethanol, formalin, RNAlater, cryo (flash freezing in liquid nitrogen and storing at -80°C), DNA/RNA shield, glutaraldeyde...
• Tissue Sampling: Indicating if a tissue sample was taken for genetic analysis and, if so, what tissue.
• Remarks: Including any relevant behavioral or morphological observations or other notes that will be helpful to us or other researchers in the future.

This comprehensive data collection ensures that each specimen's context and characteristics are thoroughly documented.

Digitization and Data Sharing
Our commitment to open science drives us to make specimen data and images accessible through various platforms. These platforms enable researchers worldwide to access our data, fostering collaboration and furthering scientific discovery.

• Arctos: A collaborative collection management information system that provides an online database for accessing specimen records.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): An international network offering free and open access to biodiversity data.
• InvertEBase: A portal focused on invertebrate data, facilitating research and education.
• Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS): A global open-access data and information clearing-house on marine biodiversity for science, conservation, and sustainable development.
• Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio): A national resource for digitized information about vouchered natural history collections.

Our digitization efforts are bolstered by the DigIn project, a collaborative initiative aimed at documenting marine biodiversity through the digitization of invertebrate collections. By standardizing protocols and providing resources, DigIn enhances our capacity to share high-quality data for Antarctic marine invertebrates with the global scientific community.

Dr. Kevin Kocot
University of Alabama