![\"A](\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog-preprod\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2014\/06\/common-cuttlefish-at-smithsonian-national-zoo-1.jpg\")
<\/a>A common cuttlefish at the Invertebrate Exhibit. Credit, Mehgan Murphy\/Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo<\/a>.<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThis difficult decision is not a reflection of the importance of invertebrates or how we feel about them,\u201d said Zoo Director Dennis Kelly in a press release<\/a> Monday. \u00a0\u201cThe exhibit has been a hidden gem cared for by passionate and expert staff. But this was a necessary decision for the financial and operational health of our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n The zoo\u2019s annual budget is about $50 million for FY2014, with $30 million from the federal government and the remainder from the Friends of the National Zoo and other philanthropic organizations.<\/p>\n Kelly told Gwen Pearson (aka Bug Girl) in an interview for Wired<\/em> <\/a>that he chose a sudden announcement in order to avoid a slow decline,\u00a0and to allow the staff enough time to send animals to new homes and, presumably, grieve the loss of their exhibit.\u00a0\u201cThe short notice was my judgment that once an exhibit is scheduled for closure, it\u2019s difficult to maintain it to our standard of quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The zoo has said that invertebrates will have a future home at the zoo in a planned \u201cHall of Biodiversity.\u201d All Invertebrates Exhibit staff will be retained and reassigned to other exhibits.<\/p>\n \u201cInvertebrate<\/a>\u201d describes all animals without spines (vertebral columns<\/a>), encompassing a great variety of species. Spiders, starfish, sponges, jellies, earthworms, and flatworms all fall this grouping \u2013 in fact, almost all animals are invertebrate. Of the million known species, an estimated 95%<\/a> lack spines.<\/p>\n Many invertebrates are microscopic, but the largest, the giant squid<\/a>, can weigh close to a ton. Invertebrates are predators, herbivores, parasites, and decomposers. They are essential to all ecosystems and economically valuable. But, on the whole, invertebrate species are little known, and often disregarded in conservation<\/a> management.<\/p>\n More a category of exclusion (from backbone-having animals like humans) than a practical taxonomic grouping, invertebrates are greatly diverse and do not share a significant evolutionary innovation that would naturally lump them together, but the category has an established place in the history and culture of zoology.<\/p>\n Invertebrate science will continue at the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s Department of Invertebrate Zoology<\/a>, including cooperative breeding programs for coral<\/a> and the Golden Orb Weaver<\/a> spider (Nephila<\/i> spp.), Kelly said.<\/p>\n The last day to visit the Invertebrate Exhibit is Saturday, June 21.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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