Collection Malacological “Prof. Henry Ramos Matthews” of Universidade Federal do Ceará: 50 years of history and contributions to the knowledge on the molluscs from Brazilian Northeastern

Abstract

The Malacological Collection “Prof. Henry Matthews Ramos “(CMPHRM) of the Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), although considered a small collection has been highlighted by its characteristically regional scope, with an important collection of species from northeastern coast of Brazil. Upon completing 50 years of existence, CMPHRM expanded its collection and has been contributing in the formation of taxonomists, curators and researchers, and the development of numerous studies relating mainly to marine mollusks. This article aims to present a historical account of this collection, from its inception to the present day, and qualitative and quantitative aspects of its collections to date. The CMPHRM consists of two series: Series A located in the Instituto de Ciências do Mar (Labomar) and Series B, at the Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos (LIMCE) Departamento de Biologia both from Univer sidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), the last one started in 1988 and incorporated in 2010. It has 2 holotypes and 20 paratypes, belonging to 14 species of gastropods and one species of Scaphopoda. The collection includes 10,250 lots, totaling 74,944 specimens 1,197 species in 208 families. The gastropods are predominant in numbers of families, species, lots and specimens. The family Veneridae (Bivalvia) stood out in number of lots and specimens. Most of the lots come from the states of the Northeast region, with Ceará highlighted in number of lots. Upon completing 50 years of activity, CMPRHM is consolidated, as a reference in the Northeast of Brazil, with its collection is representative of malacofauna of coastal environments and the continental shelf in the region with reliable information and available to the scientific community.