It was under the impetus of Marcel Dubuisson, then Rector of the University, that the centre of excellence for animal biodiversity was opened to the public in the Institute of Zoology. The Aquarium-Museum was inaugurated in 1962.
Now recognised as a category A museum by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Aquarium-Museum meets all the requirements of a museum and, in this way, also fulfils the various missions of a university institution: conservation, promotion, research and mediation are at the heart of its activities.
The collections of the Aquarium-Museum are rich and varied. The Museum has nearly 20,000 items: preserved specimens, naturalised or in the form of skeletons, from all the continents. At the Aquarium, the diversity of the aquatic world can be discovered. A special area is dedicated to the tropical world, with sharks and corals.
Several items in the Museum are classified as "Treasures" by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, notably the remarkable collection of marine invertebrate animals in glass created at the end of the 19th century by the master glassmakers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, and various wax models that illustrate the lessons of embryonic development and parasites. Once teaching aids, these superb objects are now considered works of art.
Various teachers at the University use the collections of the Museum and the Aquarium for their courses, most often to illustrate the biodiversity of a group or to show its anatomical characteristics. The Aquarium-Museum is also a useful support for courses in museology and aquariology. Moreover, the specimens of the museum collections are accessible to researchers, as are the Aquarium's facilities.
The collections are also enriched by the discoveries made by researchers: the Aquarium Museum records and preserves specimens resulting from research. In addition, it regularly collaborates with other university collection managers, notably the Herbarium and the Wittert Museum .
Inauguré en 1962, l’Aquarium-Muséum de l'Université de Liège rassemble près de 20.000 pièces : spécimens préservés, naturalisés ou sous forme de squelettes, au sein du Muséum, et toute la diversité du monde aquatique à l'Aquarium. Conservation, valorisation, recherche et médiation sont au cœur de ses activités.
