Descriptive Entry

The Curator of the Division of Mollusks, Paul Bartsch, began to refer to a Section of Corals in his annual reports although there was never a curator for the Section. This practice continued, with the reports in this record unit forming a separate section of the Division of Mollusks annual report, until the coral collection was transferred to the Division of Marine Invertebrates about 1962.

Historical Note

The United States National Museum's collection of corals was originally entrusted to the care of the Department of Marine Invertebrates. Of particular importance in that collection were the corals collected by the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. In 1914, Marine Invertebrates was merged with the Division of Mollusks to form a single Division of Marine Invertebrates. In 1921, the Division of Mollusks was reestablished and the coral and helminthological collections were turned over to it.