Guide to collections


Collection of ibero-balearic continental molluscs

Name Collection of ibero-balearic continental molluscs
Alternative name MCNB. Col. Ibero-Balearic continental molluscs
Cite as Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Collection of Ibero-Balearic continental molluscs
MCNB. Col. Ibero-Balearic continental molluscs
Description Collection of continental molluscs from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands consisting of dry shells (91% of lots) and whole organisms preserved in ethyl alcohol 70º and 100º. In all, there are 355,000 specimens grouped in 28,250 lots, of which 220 are type specimens. The collection includes bivalves and terrestrial (the main part) 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 Balmes Institute, amongst others). There are also a lot of donations made by collaborators and from other sources related to the Museum. Recent donations include the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez and Miquel Bech, as well as the specimens collected by Oleguer Escolà, most of which are from subterranean environments. The collection also includes a good number of specimens of fauna from Catalonia (almost 60% of lots), Valencia and the Balearic Islands. Around 95% of the collection has been registered, documented and digitalized to specimen-lot level. Data from most of the collection can be consulted on-line on the website of the Barcelona Natural History Museum and the portal GBIF. Recent additions from current collection campaigns and research projects have increased the proportion of wet specimens in which the internal anatomy is preserved. A selection of Ibero-Balearic continental molluscs has been displayed as part of the Museum's permanent exhibition. Currently, a group of 50 dry and wet lots is on display in the Museu Blau. An important part of this collection is the result of the on-going collecting and study carried out by renown malacologists such as Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista Aguilar-Amat, Luis Gasull and Miquel Bech, above all 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 shell collections of Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat and Joan Rosals in 1917-1920 increased the Museum's collection of Ibero-Balear 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 Chia (1923), Baltasar Serradell (1931), José Manuel Giner (1932) and the Jaume Balmes Institute (1936). The Royal Academy’s collection also includes donations from Artur Bofill, Eduard Cháquert and José María Salvañá, amongst others. Also of interest are the donations made by collaborators and other sources related to the Museum (Ascensi Codina, Francesc Español, Carme Gelabert, Enric Gros, Friedrich Haas, Marià Ferrer Bravo, Pius Font i Quer and Santiago Novellas, 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). More recent additions include the collections of Luis Gasull (donated in 1983 when Rosario Nos was Museum Director), the specimens collected by Oleguer Escolà (mainly of subterranean fauna) and the collection of Miquel Bech, donated in 2009. An important part of the collection is the result of the research carried out by renown malacologists such as Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat, Luis Gasull and Miquel Bech. The collection has been studied by researchers such as Edmund Gittenberger, Alberto Martínez-Ortí and Cristian Altaba. The scientific output of these and other researchers has generated numerous studies on taxonomy and faunistics, and includes work on the collection’s type specimens. 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. Of great interest in the field of research are the studies carried out on biodiversity and ecology – many of which are centred on Catalonia’s natural spaces – by malacologists that include Vicenç Bros, Jordi Cadevall, Elisabeth Hernández, Jordi Nebot i Albert Orozco.