10th Hydrozoan Society Workshop

The latest analysis of the status of knowledge for Norwegian species reports all hydrozoans as poorly known. This suggests that the national competence still needs to be improved, as only a few specialists have good knowledge on the diversity and distribution of hydroids, hydromedusae, and siphonophores.

The10th Workshop of the Hydrozoan Society in Bergen in spring 2023 provided an arena where professional networking took place, facilitated the transfer of knowledge between Norwegian and international scientists and brougth together consolidated experts, students, young researchers, and non-academic professionals from all over the world. Collaboration with ForBio Research School of Biosystematics helped in promoting the inclusion of Norwegian young researchers by supporting interested students with travel grants.

The workshop had a two-fold component, including scientific presentations in oral and poster formats, as well as field and laboratory work with particular focus on taxonomy and systematics. Synergies with ongoing Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative projects based at the University Museum of Bergen and the NorBOL infrastructure will generate high-quality DNA-barcodes for some of the lesser-known hydrozoan species, while collaboration with EU-funded, Horizon Europe project Pole2Pole will further increase the opportunities for networking by organizing a satellite meeting on Polar hydrozoans adjacent to the HS workshop.