| Name | Collection of poriferans |
| Cite as | MCNB. Col. poriferans |
| Description | Collection of invertebrate skeletons and whole organisms, around 60% of which are dry preserved and the rest in 70% ethanol. It contains 119 different specimens corresponding to 83 lots. Broad taxonomic range, with specimens from many different classes and orders. The geographical origin of the specimens is mainly the western Mediterranean, but there are also some specimens from the Antarctic, South-East Asia and the West Indies. The collection contains historical elements (e.g. from the Royal Academy of Science and Arts of Barcelona), and others from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Marine Biology Laboratory. A recent addition is a collection of wet specimens collected by Maria Antònia Bibiloni, a specialist in sponges from the University of Barcelona. The whole collection has been registered, documented and digitalized to specimen lot level. Data of a part of the collection can be consulted on-line at the website of the Barcelona Natural History Museum, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Ten lots are on permanent exhibition in the Museu Blau. |
| Provenance | The historical part of this collection originates primarily from the former Oceanographical Section of the Museum, set up at the beginning of 1917 by Josep Maluquer, and includes wet specimens of sponges from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Marine Biology Laboratory. The collection also contains dry samples from a number of historical collections such as that of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts of Barcelona, and that of Ramon de Bolòs i Saderra. Subsequently, a collection of wet specimens was donated to the Museum by Maria Antònia Bibiloni, a researcher from the University of Barcelona. The most recent additions include specimens collected by Museum staff and collaborators. Francesc Uribe has been the curator of the Department of Non-Arthropod Invertebrates since 1997 and since then the inventory and digitalization of the Museum’s whole collection has been carried out to specimen lot level. A selection of the sponges has formed part of the permanent display of the Museum since the creation of the abovementioned Oceanographical Section. Currently, ten lots are on permanent display in the Planeta Vida exhibition in the Museu Blau. |
