Guide to collections


Collection of continental molluscs

Name Collection of continental molluscs
Alternative name MCNB. Col. continental molluscs
Cite as Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Collection of continental molluscs
MCNB. Col. continental molluscs
Description Collection of continental molluscs consisting of dry shells (94% of specimens) and whole organisms preserved in ethyl alcohol 70º and 100º. In all, there are 459,500 specimens grouped in 49,500 lots, of which 230 are type specimens. The collection includes bivalves and terrestrial (most of the specimens) and freshwater gastropods. Part of the material belongs to the Museum's historical collection (original collection of Francesc Martorell and collections of Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat, Joan Rosals, Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and the Arts, Manuel de Chía, José Giner, Baltasar Serradell and the Jaume Bofill Institute, amongst others). There are also a lot of donations made by collaborators and from other sources related to the Museum. The most recent additions are the collections of the malacologists Luis Gasull and Miquel Bech, and the samples collected by Oleguer Escolà (mostly associated with underground habitats). Of great interest also is the abundant material from North Africa, France, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as from the Philippine archipelago and Cuba. Wide range of taxa, with a good selection of specimens from the families of the Order Stylommatophora. Almost all (98%) of the collection has been registered, documented and digitalized to specimen-lot level. Data from a part of the collection can be consulted on-line on the website of the Barcelona Natural History Museum and the portal GBIF. The specimens obtained in recent years during collection campaigns and research projects have increased the proportion of wet specimens that conserve their internal anatomy. A sample of continental molluscs has been displayed in the Museum's permanent exhibition. Currently, a group of 90 dry and wet lots are on display in the Museu Blau. An important part of this collection of continental molluscs originated in the research by renown malacologists such as Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista Aguilar-Amat, Luis Gasull and Miquel Bech, mainly in the fields of taxonomy and faunistics.
Provenance The first specimens came from the shell collection of Francesc Martorell i Peña and were part of the original collection of the Martorell Museum (1879). The addition of the collections of Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat and Joan Rosals in 1917-1920 increased the Museum's collection of continental molluscs significantly. Further material came from other historical collections that were added subsequently, including specimens from the collections of Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and the Arts (on permanent loan to the Museum since 1925), Manuel de Chía (1923), Baltasar Serradell (1931), José Giner (1932) and the Jaume Balmes Institute (1936). The Royal Academy's collection includes specimens donated by Artur Bofill, Eduard Cháquert and José María Salvañá. Also of great interest are the donations made by the Museum's collaborators and originating from other sources (e.g. Ascensi Codina, Francesc Español, Pius Font i Quer, Carme Gelabert, Enric Gros, Friedrich Haas and Santiago Novellas, amongst others). Specimens from North Africa include material collected by Marià Ferrer Bravo, Rafael Candel Vila, Juan Rutllant and Paul Pallary. As well, there are a few specimens that originate from Manuel Martínez de la Escalera's expedition to Equatorial Guinea (1919) and Aguilar-Amat's expedition to French Indochina (1929), as well as material from the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco. Other specimens are the result of donations or exchanges with other collections: W. Poliski (Poland), H. Friedrich (Munich), A. de Noronha (Madeira) and A. Caruana (Malta), amongst others. Under the direction of Artur Bofill i Poch (1892-1929) and then J. B. d’Aguilar-Amat (1929-1936), the malacological section began to be reorganized and all the different collections were united and the nomenclature revised (all the original labels have been preserved). The most recent additions include the collection of Luis Gasull (donated in 1983 when Rosario Nos was the director), the samples collected by Oleguer Escolà (of subterranean fauna) and the collection of Miquel Bech, donated in 2009. An important part of the collection corresponds to the research carried out by renown malacologists such as Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat, Luis Gasull and Miquel Bech. The collection has also been studied by researchers such as Edmund Gittenberger, Alberto Martínez-Ortí and Cristian Altaba, whose work has given rise to numerous scientific publications by these and other authors in the fields of faunistics and taxonomy for, above all, the Ibero-Balear fauna, of which a number of type specimens are found in this collection. Francesc Uribe has been curator of the Museum's non-Arthropod Invertebrate collection since 1997. During his time in charge, the registration, documentation and computerization to specimen-lot level has been completed. It is worth highlighting studies on biodiversity and ecology by the malacologists Vicenç Bros, Jordi Cadevall, Elisabeth Hernández, Jordi Nebot and Albert Orozcothat mainly are highly relevant to the management of Catalonia's natural areas.