The VMIC consists of ca 75,000 lots, of which 41,900 are cataloged and identified to species, and the remaining lots to order or family. The VMIC is worldwide in scope covering 37 taxonomic groups, belonging to 17 phyla of marine invertebrates. The most representative phyla are Mollusca (55%), arthropods mainly crustaceans (25%), Cnidarians (8 %), Echinoderms (8%), annelids (3%) and porifera (1%). The collection covers the tropical western and eastern Atlantic, mainly from cruises conducted across the Caribbean, central and south America and the Gulf of Guinea. Additionally, there are extensive collections of marine invertebrates from the Florida keys, Gulf of Mexico and Bahamas.