Malacology

Malacological collections are a type of zoological collections composed of terrestrial or marine mollusks. Generally, they contain their skeletons (external or internal shells), although entire specimens with soft parts can often also be preserved. Typical examples include snails, seashells, shells, oysters, cephalopod pens or bones, etc.

These types of collections demonstrate the great morphological diversity of this group, as well as the spatial distribution of species over time. Therefore, they are reference collections for identifying and comparing species, as well as for studying changes in their biogeographic distribution over time. This aspect is especially relevant for conservation tasks of endemic or threatened species.

The malacological collections preserved in the MUCBO | Science Museum contain material from all over the world, with tens of thousands of specimens of different shapes and colors. The historical collection of Fernando Moragues, over a century old, stands out. By extension, the most important is that of Mateu Cifre, which has an exhaustive representation of all Balearic species, both terrestrial and marine, as well as numerous other Mediterranean and world species.

In addition to these two main collections, there are smaller ones from other donations, mainly with materials from the Balearic Islands. Almost all specimens are preserved dry, in hermetically sealed bags or straws designed for this purpose, although a small part is preserved in wet form to conserve soft parts. First they are fixed with formalin, and then definitively left in a 75% alcohol solution in hermetic glass jars.