The Vermes Department comprises 26,000 catalogued vermiform animals collected all over the world, most of them without any close relationship between each other. It contains wet preparations in 14,000 vials, 16,000 microscopic preparations and several hundred worm burrows as dry preparations.

Worms are either free-living or parasites.

They include

• Plathelminthes (Flat Worms)
• Gnathostomulida
• Nemertini (Ribbon Worms)
• Rotatoria (Rotifera, Wheel Animals)
• Acanthocephala (Thorny-headed Worms)
• Gastrotricha (Hairy Backs)
• Nematoda (Threadworms)
• Nematomorpha (Horsehair Worms)
• Kinorhyncha (Mud Dragons)
• Priapulida (Penis Worms)
• Loricifera
• Sipunculida (Peanut Worms)
• Echiurida (Spoon Worms)
• Pogonophora (Beard Worms)
• Oligochaeta (Earthworms)
• Hirudinea (Leeches)
• Polychaeta (Bristle Worms)
• Chaetognatha (Arrow Worms)

Of the 100,000 preparations, 3,300 species include primary type material. Together with most non-type material, these are researchable on the Internet in the Sesam Database.

The oldest preparations date back to the 18th century. Many preparations originate from collections of the 18th and 19th century or the major marine expeditions such as the Gazelle Expedition (1874), the German Deep Sea Expedition (1898-1899) and the German South Polar Expedition (1901-1903).