Mystery in the Museum

In March of this year an amazing discovery was made in the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. It wasn’t hidden in the archive or lost in a box, it was swimming around in plain sight.

The story began when marine biologist Abed-Navandi from the University of Vienna sent out an open call for crustacean species to study. Answering the call the Museum sent a sample of one of the species that they use to feed the animals in their aquarium.

Little did they know, this particular shrimp-like creature was unknown to science!

They believe that the animal had ‘hitchhiked’ into the aquarium on a rock, and then gone on to reproduce wildly.

Outwardly the crustacean looks like any other shrimp, but it has a curious habit of zig-zagging around.

As aquarium Curator Dr Jamie Cragg emphasises, this example goes to show how much is left of the oceans and its wildlife to discover.