| Name | Historical collection of cnidarians |
| Alternative name | MCNB Col. historical cnidarians |
| Cite as | Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Historical collection of cnidarians MCNB. Col. historical cnidarians |
| Description | Collection consisting of specimens from the stock of the general collection of Cnidaria. It consists of 293 lots corresponding to 498 specimens, both dry invertebrate skeletons (70% of lots) and whole organisms preserved in liquid. Taxonomically, the collection covers all the main orders and, in particular, the Scleractinia, which represent almost half of all the lots. The geographical origin mainly covers the western Mediterranean. Atlantic and Indian oceans (Philippine archipelago). The specimens preserved in liquid originate from the Museum's Oceanographic Section, organized at the beginning of 1917 by Josep Maluquer, and include a series of items from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Maritime Biological Station. Other dry and wet specimens from this period come from the historical collections of the Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and Art, Baltasar Serradell, Artur Bofil and other sources closely linked to the museum. In all, 99% of the detailed registration, documentation and computerization to specimen-lot level has been completed. A group of dry and wet specimens from the historical Cnidaria collection has been displayed in a number of the Museum's exhibitions. Since 2011, a selection of 20 lots and 32 elements forms part of the permanent exhibition of the Museu Blau. |
| Provenance | The liquid collection comes mainly from the former Oceanographic Section of the Museum, which was organized at the beginning of 1917 by Josep Maluquer and includes material from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Maritime Biological Station. The collection also has a number of dry and wet lots from the historical collections of the Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and Art, Baltasar Serradell, Artur Bofil and other sources closely linked to the museum (mainly from Josep Maluquer himself). Francesc Uribe has been curator of the Museum's non-Arthropod Invertebrate collection since 1990. During his time in charge, the registration, documentation and computerization to specimen-lot level has been completed. As well, advances have been made in the preventive conservation of both wet and dry specimens. Around half of the lots have recently been revised and photographed by Pablo López (University of Seville) and this information has been incorporated into the datebase. Part of the collection of Cnidaria has been displayed in the Museum's exhibitions. A representative sample of 20 lots was selected when the Museum's permanent exhibition was transferred to the Museu Blau. |
