Guide to collections


Collection of marine gastropods

Name Collection of marine gastropods
Alternative name MCNB. Col. marine gastropods
Cite as Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Collection of marine gastropods
MCNB. Col. marine gastropods
Description Collection of marine gastropods consisting of dry shells (99% of lots) and whole organisms preserved in ethyl alcohol 70%. In all, there are 189,500 specimens grouped in 23,100 lots. 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, Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and the Arts, Baltasar Serradell and the Jaume Bofill Institute, amongst others). More recent additions include specimens from the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez and Joan Rosal Sagalés. Geographically, the collection covers the whole world, but with a good selection of specimens from the Mediterranean (above all, Catalan and Balearic coasts), and from the coasts and archipelagos of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans (above all, the archipelagos of Southeast Asia). Wide range of taxa. 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 marine gastropod collection has been displayed in the Museum's permanent exhibition and currently there are 40 dry and liquid lots on display in the Museum Blau.
Provenance The first specimens come from the shell collection of Francesc Martorell i Peña and were part of the original collection of the Martorell Museum (1879). There are also specimens donated a few years later by Adolfo de Reynoso (1882) from his collection from the Philippine Archipelago. The 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 of marine gastropods significantly. Further material came from other historical collections that were added subsequently, including specimens from the Barcelona Royal Academy of Science and the Arts (on permanent loan to the Museum since 1925), and the collections of Manuel de Chía (1923), Baltasar Serradell (1931), José Giner (1932) and the Jaume Balmes Institute (1936). The Royal Academy's collection includes donations from Jaime Basté, Adolfo and Eduardo Cháquert, Eduard Fontseré, Eusebio Mas and José María Salvañá. Also of interest are the donations from other collaborators and from other sources such as Marià Ferrer Bravo, Vicenta Gibert, Enric Gros and Josep Maluquer. There is also some material from expeditions such as those of Manual Martínez de la Escalera to Equatorial Guinea (1919), Aguilar-Amat to French Indochina (1929) and the various campaigns conducted in the Spanish protectorate of Morocco. The oldest specimens preserved in liquid originate from the Naples Zoological Station and the Santander Marine Biology Station, part of a purchase of marine fauna made by the Museum's oceanographic section (1916-1917). Under the direction of Artur Bofill i Poch (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 from the collections of Luis Gasull Martínez donated in 1983 when Rosario Nos was director) and of Joan Rosal Sagalés (donated 2000). These two collections contain 2,700 lots of marine gastropods with material mainly from the western Mediterranean. 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.
Kingdom coverage Animalia
Taxon coverage Gastropoda
Common name coverage marine gastropods, seashells
Collectors Aguilar-Amat, Joan Baptista d'
Altimira Aleu, Carles
Bofill i Poch, Artur
Ferrer Bravo, Marià
Gabot, Laura
Gasull Martínez, Luís
Gaubin, R. P.
Gibert, Vicenta
Gros, Enric
Hernández Rojo, Elisabeth
Iglesias Iglesias, A.
Laboratori Oceanogràfic de Balears
Maluquer, J.
Maluquer, Josep
Martínez de la Escalera, Manuel
Mateu, G.
Mercadal, B.
Resalt, R.
Samà, Antoni de
Torres Mínguez, Alejandro
Zariquiey, Ricardo
[altres]
Collection type Preserved
Primary purpose Research
Include types No
Grouping principle Taxonomic
Formations periods ca. 1882-
Development statuses Passive growth
Collection extents 189500 specimens, 23100 lots
Documentation state Documentary control of all the lots (registration, inventory and computerization). Most material still needs to be revised: identification to species level based on documentation and original labels (nomenclature updated for the samples documented with MuseumPlus).
Specimen preservation methods Fluid-preserved, No Treatment
Preparation and conservation Dried material boxed or wrapped up in protective material in individual containers. Periodical control of samples in liquid. Control of the environmental conditions in storage areas.
McGinley conservation statuses Level 8
Conservation status date 08-07-2013 (dd-mm-yyyy)
Institution Natural Science Museum of Barcelona - Non-Arthropod Invertebrates Department
Parent collection Collection of marine molluscs
Subcollections Marine molluscs collection of the family Nassariidae
Associated person Miguel Prieto (Documentalist), Francesc Uribe (Curator),
Item level access MCNB Mollusca GBIF online database (date when consulted) (accessed through GBIF data portal, http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/9125, 2013-09-04)
Col·leccions en línia de Zoologia (MCNB) / Online Zoological Collections (MCNB)
Related material Bofill i Poch, A., 1917. La colecció Rosals. Anuari de la Junta de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, 2: 193-196.

Bofill i Poch, A., 1917. Moluscos ingressats en el Museu desde el mes de juny de 1916. Anuari de la Junta de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, 2: 533-549.

Bofill i Poch, A., 1918. Moluscos Ingressats en el Museu des de el 1er de juliol de 1917. Anuari de la Junta de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, 3: 201-224.

García Franquesa, Masó Ros & Uribe Porta, 2011. Martínez de la Escalera en las colecciones del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Barcelona. La expedición a Guinea Ecuatorial de 1919. In: Al encuento del naturalista Manuel Martínez de la Escalera: 525-534 (C. Martín Albadalejo & I. Izquierdo Moya, eds.). Monografías del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid (CSIC), Madrid.

Gasull, L. & Cuerda, J., 1974. Malacología del contenido gástrico de las grandes estrellas de mar. Boletín de la Sociedad de Historia Natural de Baleares, 19: 155-175.

Maluquer, J., 1917. Organització i increment de la Secció Oceanogràfica. Anuari de la Junta de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, 2: 205-238.

Martorell, M. & Bofill, A., 1888. Catálogo de la colección conchiológica que fué de D. Francisco Martorell y Peña legada por dicho señor á la ciudad de Barcelona y existente en el Museo Martorell de la propia ciudad. Barcelona. 94 pp

Nos, R., 1984. Homenatge del Museu de Zoologia de Barcelona a tres malacòlegs catalans. Lluís Gasull Martínez, Carles Altimira Aleu i Jaume Bot Arenas. Miscel·lània Zoològica, 8: 311-312.