Brief description: "Rinay" Malacofauna Museum was officially founded in 1989; it is the first private museum in Azerbaijan and a unique in Eurasia by trend. The collection was founded by the first Honored oilman of USSR Karayev Sadikh Kerimbek ogly in 1932. He was the USSR oil expert in USA. The further renewal and classification of the collection material is provided by candidate of geological-mineralogical sciences, professor Karayev Tofiq Sadikh ogly.
There is about 2 thousand specimen of clam-shells (pelesuroda, gastropoda) that form the numerous oceans, seas and lakes over the
world. The systematized malacofauna includes 86 various species. The unique feature of the collection is that besides the recent marine and land molluscous fauna there are the stands with fossil shells of freshwater mollusks lived 2 million years ago in the coastal part of Akchagil and Absheron paleoseas.
Some specimen of this private collection are demonstrated in the National museums of Australia, Argentina, Indonesia as well as private collections of other states.
Basing on the vast material of the fossil shells of mollusks, Karayev T.S. had distinguished and monographically described a quite new genus Dzejrantscholia and some new species.
There are also starfish, sea-urchin and turtles on the stands. The Museum is of great interest for ecologists, paleontologists, paleo geographer, geologists-stratigraphers.