| Name | Collection of marine molluscs from the Balearic Islands |
| Alternative name | MCNB. Col. marine molluscs Balearic Islands |
| Cite as | Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Collection of marine molluscs from the Balearic Islands MCNB. Col. marine molluscs Balearic Islands |
| Description | Collection of marine molluscs from the Balearic Islands consisting of dry shells (99% of lots) and whole organisms preserved in ethyl alcohol 70º. In all, there are 64,500 specimens grouped in 3,300 lots. The collection includes specimens from the classes Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda, Polyplacophora and Scaphopoda, above all from the first two of these classes (98%). The wet specimens are either Gastropoda or Cephalopoda. Wide taxonomic range of Gastropoda and Bivalvia. The geographical range of the collection includes all the main islands of the archipelago (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera and Cabrera), as well as specimens from the smaller islands and islets. 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 and Baltasar Serradell, amongst others). Recent donations include the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez and Joan Rosal i Sagalés, the latter especially important from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective (over 65% of the Museum’s lots of marine molluscs from the Balearic Islands). All 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. A selection from this collection has been displayed as part of the Museum's permanent exhibition. |
| 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 shell collections of Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat and Joan Rosals in 1917-1920 increased the Museum's collection of marine fauna from the Balearic Islands 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) and Baltasar Serradell (1931). The Royal Academy’s collection also includes donations from Eusebio Mas and José Moll, amongst others. Also of interest are the donations made by collaborators and other sources related to the Museum (Marià Ferrer Bravo, Enric Gros, Josep Maluquer and Santiago Novellas). The oldest wet specimens are part of the collection of the Oceanographic Section that was inaugurated at the beginning of 1917. 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). More recent additions include the collections of Joan Rosals i Sagalés, donated in 2000 and, above all, that of Luis Gasull Martínez (donated in 1983 when Rosario Nos was Museum Director). This latter collection has greatly increased the Museum’s marine malacological collection from the Balearic Islands and today represents around 65% of the Museum’s collection of this group from these islands. 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. |
