My work doesn't just involve getting a better understanding of understudied marine meiofauna, but also sharing this understanding. In 2026, I helped put up a display about marine tardigrades in the museum of Naturalis.
Tardigradesare tough
If people have even heard of “tardigrades” at all, they usually picture tiny, sausage-shaped, cute “water bears” that live in moss and are known for their ability to survive in extreme conditions. However, many tardigrades spend their entire lives in the ocean. And outwardly, they bear little resemblance to their terrestrial relatives.
Platesand spines
The family Stygarctidae includes some of the most remarkable marine tardigrades. These microscopic animals, which live among the sand grains, are protected by a complex armor of cuticular plates, spines, and sensory appendages, giving them a fierce appearance. Their remarkable body structure has fascinated zoologists since the discovery of this group in the 1950's, yet much of their biology remains a mystery.
Sandgrain-sized
Since members of the Stygarctidae family are typically less than half a millimeter long, studying their anatomy has always been a challenging task. Advanced microscopy allows for a better understanding of these remarkable organisms. Here, you see a live specimen and a grain of sand.
Shownfor the first time
In 2026, the Naturalis Museum put these remarkable species on display. The 3D models presented here are the first reconstructions of two new species of the Stygarctidae family. They allow us to observe these tiny marine animals from all angles.
The models for this exhibition were developed by Roman Trokhymchuk, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center. In his research, he studies the diversity and evolution of marine tardigrades using state-of-the-art visualization technologies and molecular methods.
The public release of these models is part of an effort to bring the invisible world of marine biodiversity closer to both scientists and students, as well as museum visitors.
