RBINS Mollusc collection

Yves Samyn

doi:10.15468/w6ubjx

RBINS Mollusc collection

Citation

Samyn Y, Vandenberghe T, Cooleman S, Theeten F (2024). RBINS Mollusc collection. Version 1.9. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/w6ubjx accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-14.

Description

Within the RBINS collection of Belgian Recent Invertebrates, most of the approximately 1 million specimens are molluscs. A large proportion of this material comes from former RBINS director Gustave Gilson, who was one of the first Belgian oceanographers. He systematically sampled the North Sea between 1898 and 1939. Of course, his colleagues also brought material back from expeditions to Belgian waters and on land, as they still do today. The collections are classified systematically and include both dry and wet specimens. In the philosophy of the RBINS, reference collections were (and are) built from all corners of the world. Thus we have specimens that scientists collected during many foreign expeditions. The “dry” specimens (shells) in these international collections are housed in 3000 wooden drawers, while the “wet” specimens (whole specimens retaining their internal organs) are contained in 10,000 glass jars. These collections are also classified systematically. Other large collections that were purchased by the institute or that were donated are kept separately. The most famous of these is the Philippe Dautzenberg collection, comprising 40,000 species (7000 of which are fossilised): 4.5 million specimens, in 300,000 lots, classified in 2000 (mostly open top) drawers. There is also the associated library of 8000 publications. This RBINS dataset includes an eminent part of that Dautzenberg shell collection.

Taxonomic Coverages

Mollusca
rank: phylum

Geographic Coverages

Afghanistan, Africa, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Dalmatia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, SAR China, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Melanesia, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Poland, Polynesia, Portugal, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Yves Samyn
originator
position: Curator
Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences - Department of Scientific Heritage Service
Vautierstraat 29
Brussels
1000
BE
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1653-3018

Thomas Vandenberghe
metadata author
position: Data manager
Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences
Vautierstraat 29
Brussels
1000
BE
email: tvandenberghe@naturalsciences.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9269-6548

Stijn Cooleman
metadata author
position: Biodiversity Data Officer
Belgian Biodiversity Platform
BE
email: s.cooleman@biodiversity.be
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3029-0451

Franck Theeten
metadata author
position: Database manager
Royal Museum for Central Africa
BE
email: franck.theeten@africamuseum.be
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0626-538X

Patrick Semal
content provider
position: Head of Section Scientific Heritage
Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences
Vautierstraat 29
Brussels
1000
BE
email: psemal@naturalsciences.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4048-7728

administrative point of contact
Biodiversity and Ecological Data and Information Centre - Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences
Vautierstraat 29
Brussels
1000
BE
email: info@bedic.be