Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.
CT Scanner, Central Analytical Facility, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Gigascience. 2018 Apr 1;7(4):1-7. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giy022.
Along with the conventional deposition of physical types at natural history museums, the deposition of 3-dimensional (3D) image data has been proposed for rare and valuable museum specimens, such as irreplaceable type material.
Micro computed tomography (μCT) scan data of 5 hermit crab species from South Africa, including rare specimens and type material, depicted main identification characteristics of calcified body parts. However, low-image contrasts, especially in larger (>50 mm total length) specimens, did not allow sufficient 3D reconstructions of weakly calcified and fine characteristics, such as soft tissue of the pleon, mouthparts, gills, and setation. Reconstructions of soft tissue were sometimes possible, depending on individual sample and scanning characteristics. The raw data of seven scans are publicly available for download from the GigaDB repository.
Calcified body parts visualized from μCT data can aid taxonomic validation and provide additional, virtual deposition of rare specimens. The use of a nondestructive, nonstaining μCT approach for taxonomy, reconstructions of soft tissue structures, microscopic spines, and setae depend on species characteristics. Constrained to these limitations, the presented dataset can be used for future morphological studies. However, our virtual specimens will be most valuable to taxonomists who can download a digital avatar for 3D examination. Simultaneously, in the event of physical damage to or loss of the original physical specimen, this dataset serves as a vital insurance policy.
除了在自然历史博物馆常规保存物理标本外，还建议为珍稀且有价值的博物馆标本（如不可替代的模式标本）保存三维（3D）图像数据。
来自南非的 5 种寄居蟹物种的微计算机断层扫描（μCT）扫描数据，包括珍稀标本和模式标本，描绘了钙化身体部位的主要鉴别特征。然而，低图像对比度，特别是在较大的（总长>50 毫米）标本中，无法充分重建弱钙化和精细特征，如腹部的软组织、口器、鳃和刚毛。软组织的重建有时是可能的，这取决于个别样本和扫描特征。七次扫描的原始数据可从 GigaDB 存储库中公开下载。
μCT 数据可视化的钙化身体部位可辅助分类学验证，并提供珍稀标本的额外虚拟保存。非破坏性、非染色的 μCT 方法在分类学中的应用、软组织结构、微观刺和刚毛的重建取决于物种特征。受这些限制的约束，所提供的数据集可用于未来的形态学研究。然而，我们的虚拟标本对分类学家最有价值，他们可以下载数字头像进行 3D 检查。同时，如果原始物理标本受到物理损坏或丢失，该数据集将作为重要的保险单。
