| Name | Collection of continental molluscs from Philippines |
| Alternative name | MCNB. Col. continental molluscs Philippines |
| Cite as | Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Collection of continental molluscs from Philippines MCNB. Col. continental molluscs Philippines |
| Description | Collection of continental molluscs from the Philippine archipelago consisting of dry shells. In all, there are 3,450 specimens grouped in 1,330 lots. The collection includes bivalves and terrestrial (the principal group represented) and freshwater gastropods. Wide range of taxa including a quantitatively important representation of Pulmonadae (families Bradybaenidae and Camaenidae). One of the collection's main points of interest, which it shares with the rest of the archipelago's fauna, is the large number of endemic taxa, with a number of species represented in this collection that are only found in this archipelago or on some of its islands. Most 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, Baltasar Serradell and the Jaume Bofill Institute, amongst others). The whole 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 sample of the terrestrial molluscs from the Philippines has been displayed in the Museum's permanent exhibition. Eleven specimens of the genus Helicostyla currently illustrate the concept of inter-island variation in the permanent exhibition in the Museum Blau. |
| 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 gastropods from the Philippine 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 (loaned to the Museum in 1925), Manuel de Chía (1923), Baltasar Serradell (1931) and the Jaume Balmes Institute (1936). Also represented in the collection are occasional specimens collected by the malacologist Joaquín González Hidalgo. 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). 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. |
