| Name | Cnidarians collection |
| Alternative name | MCNB. Col. cnidarians |
| Cite as | Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Cnidarians collection MCNB. Col. cnidarians |
| Description | A collection consisting of 980 lots corresponding to 450 species, ranging from dry invertebrate skeletons to organisms preserved in liquid. The taxonomic range covers the classes Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, Scyphozoa and Cubozoa (of which, the first two classes represent 85% of the material). The geographical origin of the specimens is above all the western Mediterranean (with a lot of material from the Catalan coast), the south Atlantic, the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean (Southeast Asia). The oldest wet specimens are to be found in the Museum's Oceanographic Section, organized at the beginning of 1917 by Josep Maluquer, which also includes material from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Marine Biology Station. Other specimens from this period, both dry and wet, come from a number of historical collections and other sources related to the Museum. In all, 99% is inventoried to specimen-lot level. The collection of Cnidaria has recently been greatly enriched by the acquisition of samples from the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) and the University of Seville, which include material collected during research projects carried out in the 1970s by researchers such as Josep M. Gili, Francesc Pagès and Pablo López. Aside from its sheer number of specimens (the inventoried material represents an increase in the number of lots and species of, respectively, 180 and 400%), the new collection of Cnidaria is of great importance due to the type specimens and other specimens of great scientific interest that have been referenced in various publications. A substantial part of this material is conserved in liquid, which guarantees that soft parts will be preserved for future anatomical and histological studies. The incorporation and management of these specimens were made possible by the Ministry of Economy and Competition (Ref. CGL2011-14605-E) who facilitated the creation of an infrastructure for this international reference collection of Cnidaria. A part of the general collection of Cnidaria, both dry and wet specimens, has been used for a number of different exhibitions in the Museum, including the current permanent exhibition of the Museum Blau, opened in 2011. |
| Provenance | The historical collection essentially originates from the former Oceanographical Section of the Museum, organized at the beginning of 1917 by Josep Maluquer. It includes material from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Marine Biology Station, most preserved in liquid. The collection also includes both dry and wet specimens from other historical collections and sources related to the Museum. Aside from occasional material acquired in subsequent years, most of the collection derives from research projects carried out by scientists such as Josep M. Gili Sardà (Institute of Marine Sciences, CSIC) and Pablo López González (University of Seville). Amongst the material accumulated since the end of the 1960s there are type specimens, as well as other samples of great scientific interest referenced in publications originating from key research programmes (campaigns to the Antarctic on the vessel Polarstern) or from applied research into fishing resources (campaigns Benguela and Valdivia to the south Atlantic). The incorporation and management of these specimens were made possible by the Ministry of Economy and Competition (Ref. CGL2011-14605-E) who facilitated the creation of an infrastructure for this international reference collection of Cnidaria. Francesc Uribe has been curator of the Museum's non-Arthropod Invertebrate collection since 1997. Part of the Cnidaria collection has been put on display in different exhibitions and a representative selection was chosen when the permanent exhibition was moved to the Museum Blau in 2011. |
