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The central room on the third (top) floor of Palazzo Grassi hosts about 350 specimens of the Historical Collection of Trieste and Rovigno; a selection of precious Adriatic sea animals that had an eventful history. Fish, sharks, rays, molluscs, sponges, echinoderms, crustaceans and many others were exclusively collected in the Adriatic between the late 19th century and the Second World War. The animals are perfectly preserved either in formaldehyde or alcohol solution, and are exhibited in valuable glass containers, many of German manufacture and dating back to the time of sample collection. In this room visitors may admire the great variety of past and present organisms living in the Adriatic, and familiarise with these animals' lifestyles by closely examining their shape, shells and appendages. The panels next to the showcases describe life in the sea and its inhabitants, and provide information about the major Chioggia naturalists of the past, the history of the collection and the research carried out at the Hydrobiologic Laboratory of Chioggia, since Umberto D'Ancona founded it in 1941.