Name | Scaphopods collection |
Alternative name | MCNB. Col. scaphopods |
Cite as | Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Scaphopods collection MCNB. Col. scaphopods |
Description | Collection of Scaphopoda molluscs consisting of dry shells (99% of lots) and whole organisms preserved in ethyl alcohol 70%. In all, there are 1970 specimens grouped in 167 lots, corresponding to around 25 species. Most of the material belongs to the Museum's historical collection (original collection of Francesc Martorell and collections of Antoni de Samà, Artur Bofill, Joan Baptista d'Aguilar-Amat, Joan Rosals, Baltasar Serradell, Manuel de Chía and the Jaume Bofill Institute). More recent additions include 44 lots from the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez and Joan Rosals Sagalés. Geographically, the collection covers mainly the western Mediterranean (above all, Catalan and Balearic coasts), along with a few specimens from the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Philippine Archipelago. 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 collection's specimens has been displayed in the Museum's permanent exhibition (currently represented by a lot on permanent display of 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 Escaphopoda collection also includes shells from the collection of Antoni de Samà (added in around 1914) corresponding to marine molluscs from the Catalan coast. The addition of the collections of Aguilar-Amat, Artur Bofill and Joan Rosals in 1917-1920 increased the Museum's collection significantly. Further material came from other historical collections that were added subsequently, including specimens from the collections of Manuel de Chía (1923), Baltasar Serradell (1931) and the Jaume Balmes Institute (1931). Under the direction of Artur Bofill i Puch (1892-1929) and then Joan Baptista 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). The most recent additions include specimens (44 lots from the coasts of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands) from the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez and Joan Rosal Sagalés (donated to the Museum in 1983 and 2000, respectively). 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. |