Invertebrates are animals without a backbone. Sea urchins, corals, jellyfish, snails and squid are all members of this diverse group.
Guarding the exhibition is one of the largest invertebrates - a giant squid, which can reach up to 15 metres long.
In this recently redesigned exhibition you will find echinoderms (starfishes and sea urchins), Porifera (sponges) and cephalopods (squid and octopuses). You can also see the shells of molluscs. Many of these are highly prized for their beauty and are used as ornaments and trinkets. In some Pacific Islands cowrie shells were even used as money. This practice ceased when devaluation meant that the quantity of shells needed to make even modest purchases became impracticable to handle!
Illustrations:
