USM, 15 November 2025 - The Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), successfully hosted the NEF–NMNS–USM Workshop on Marine Biodiversity Research: Taxonomy and Specimen Management of Marine Invertebrates from 13 to 15 November 2025.

The workshop brought together 23 participants from Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand for an intensive, hands-on training programme aimed at strengthening regional expertise in marine invertebrate taxonomy.

The event was jointly organised by USM, the National Museum of Nature and Science (NMNS), Japan, and the Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (NEF), as part of the ongoing collaborative project, “Biodiversity of Marine Benthic Invertebrates in Malaysia” (2025–2028) funded by NEF.

International experts, including Prof. Toshihiko Fujita, Dr. Hiroshi Saito, Dr. Shimpei Hiruta, Dr. Tsuyoshi Takano, and Dr. Itaru Kobayashi, conducted lectures and practical sessions alongside Malaysian resource persons led by Prof. Dato’ Dr. Aileen Tan and Dr. Abe Woo Sau Pinn.

Participants engaged in a comprehensive programme covering:

• Taxonomical writing, nomenclature, and specimen curation
• Identification of tropical echinoderms, mollusks, chitons, and ophiuroids
• Molecular analysis methods and DNA-based phylogenetics
• Practical training on phylogenetic tree reconstruction
• Specimen photography, fixation, and tissue sampling techniques

Located within the Penang National Park, CEMACS provided a unique field-based learning environment supported by its Tun Dr Daim Zanuddin Marine Reference Collection Centre that houses one of the largest collections of marine invertebrates in Malaysia and laboratory facilities.

Unique and iconic specimens like the Penang seastar, Luidia penangensis were used as study specimen alongside with numerous other mollusks and echinoderms specimen which were housed in the collection centre.

The workshop concluded with strong interest in further collaborations, particularly the upcoming Specimen Analysis and Data Processing Workshop scheduled to be held at NMNS, Japan in 2026.

This training workshop reflects CEMACS’s commitment to advancing marine biodiversity research, nurturing regional expertise, and promoting international scientific partnerships.

CEMACS is the premier institution in Malaysia leading biodiversity research and taxonomic studies of marine invertebrates especially echinoderms and mollusks.

Till date, researchers from CEMACS have described over 50 new species from the marine environment of Southeast Asia and East Asia region with notably in 2025, a species of seastar named Aquilonastra aileenae, named in honor of CEMACS’s director that was newly found in Langkawi as well as Oxydromus cemacs, a newly described polychaete species named after the centre found within the vicinity of CEMACS itself!

Text and photos: Dr. Abe Woo Sau Pinn (CEMACS)/Edited: Muhammad Airul Afzan Azlan, intern @ MPRC