Mollusks from Arctic Region at the National Museum of Natural Sciences Collections (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The Mollusca Collection of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN, CSIC, Madrid) contains some specimens from the Arctic Circle, exactly thirty-eight lots including historical collections, which may provide insights to climate change research. Some of these collections refer to those of the Head of the Scientific Commission of the Pacific, the mariner and naturalist Patricio Paz y Membiela (accessioned in 1873), and the malacologists Joaquín González Hidalgo and Florentino Azpeitia (accessioned in 1913 and 1934 respectively). Recently there has been a donation from the collector and diplomat Javier Conde de Saro which was accessioned in the MNCN in 2011 and a collection of the curator of the Mollusca Collection, Rafael Araujo, of 2010. These specimens belong to twenty-six species (fifteen marine and three freshwater gastropods; six marine and one freshwater bivalves; and one polyplacophoran) from places such as Kola Peninsula, Greenland, and Novaya Zembla; and Russian Arctic waters. All of these specimens have been databased and are an important contribution to global research as mollusk are heavily affected by temperature changes and ocean acidification.