Short Description
The beginnings of the Collection Mollusca date back to the 18th century. Franz Stephan of Lorraine acquired the collection of the Florentine Baillou which also included many snail and mussel shells, for his extensive private collection. It formed the basis for the later founded k.k. Natural History Cabinet. The majority of these shells are still in the mollusc collection today.
Numerous curators and employees contributed significantly to the extensive and internationally significant collection that exists today through their scientific and curatorial work and ongoing expansion, including Ignaz von Born, Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld and Rudolf Sturany.
Important collecting trips, such as the circumnavigation of the Novara (1857-1859) or the deep-sea expeditions of the Pola to the eastern Mediterranean (1890-1893) and the Red Sea (1895-1898), significantly enlarged the mollusc collection, as did acquisitions or donations of some extensive private collections, for example J.P.R. Draparnaud (1820), T.M.A. Monterosato (1889), H. Tschapek (1898), C. Gerstenbrandt (1915), A. Oberwimmer (1952/53), L. Rusnov (1953), A. Edlauer (1960), W. Klemm (1969), K . Uetz (1975) and F. Starmühlner (various collecting trips 1971-1991).
The Collection Mollusca currently comprises around one million series (an estimated 7 million specimens), of which around 5000 are type specimens. The majority are (dry) shells (97%), approximately 2% of the collection specimens are preserved in ethanol, the remaining (1%) are microslides or SEM specimens.
For historical reasons, the groups of Brachiopoda, Bryozoa and Tunicata are also managed in the mollusc collection, partly preserved as dry material and partly in ethanol.
Contact Person
Mag. Anita Eschner
Research Services
Help with identification of molluscs possible on request.
Creation of digitised data (photos or literature scans) possible for cooperation partners.
Preparation of expertises.
Tissue samples for DNA analysis in projects with cooperation partners partly available.
Assistance with requests on historical material or specific literature.
Extensive specialist library useable on site after registration.
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
The mollusc collection can be used for a wide range of questions and research approaches. In addition to classical morphological taxonomic studies, we also support molecular analyses in cooperation with the Central Research Laboratories at the NHM. Through joint projects on Alpine land snails in Austria and the Austrian Barcode of Life project - sub-part molluscs, we already have extensive material from this area and good cooperation with taxonomists and specialists. Thanks to our global coverage, we can offer comprehensive geographical sample coverage for many projects that are carried out in collaboration with our collection. The focus is on land gastropods from Central & Eastern Europe and the Balkans, marine molluscs from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, as well as historically important collections with extensive type material such as Ignaz von Born, Jacques P.R. Draparnaud, Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld or Rudolf Sturany. The long, well-documented history of the mollusc collection also allows studies on taxonomic or fauna-geographical comparisons over time.
Allocation to research infrastructure
ALBANO, P.G., SCHNEDL, S.M. & ESCHNER, A. (2018): An illustrated catalogue of Rudolf Sturany’s type specimens in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NHMW): deep-sea Eastern Mediterranean molluscs – Zoosystematics and Evolution 94 (1): 29-56. DOI 10.3897/zse.94.20116
ALBANO, P.G., SCHNEDL, S.M., JANSSEN, R. & ESCHNER, A. (2019): An illustrated catalogue of Rudolf Sturany’s type specimens in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NHMW): Red Sea bivalves. – Zoosystematics and Evolution 95 (2): 557-598.
ALBANO, P.G., SCHNEDL, S.M. & ESCHNER, A. (2020): An illustrated catalogue of Rudolf Sturany’s type specimens in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NHMW): more Red Sea species. – Zoosystematics and Evolution 96 (2): 571-576. DOI 10.3897/zse.96.54707
ESCHNER, A., (2005): Vom Sammeln zur wissenschaftlichen Sammlung. - In: Das Meer im Zimmer. Von Tintenschnecken und Muscheltieren. Herausgeber: Landesmuseum Joanneum und Elisabeth Schlebrügge, Graz, p.39-43.
ESCHNER, A. (2008): Georg von Frauenfeld: Die Bedeutung seiner Arbeiten für die Malakologie. - Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 109B: 15-31.
ESCHNER, A. (2019): Zur Geschichte der Molluskensammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Denisia 42: 567-577.
ESCHNER, A., VINARSKI, M.V. & SCHNEDL, S.M. (2020): Addendum to the examination of the type material of freshwater mollusk species described by J.P.R. Draparnaud. - Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 122B: 183-191.
JAKSCH, K., ESCHNER, A., VON RINTELEN, T., & HARING, E. (2016): DNA analysis of molluscs from a museum wet collection: a comparison of different extraction methods. BMC Research Notes, 9, 348. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-016-2147-7
KRUCKENHAUSER, L., DUDA, M., SCHINDELAR, J., MACEK, O., REIER, S. & ESCHNER, A., (2019): DNA-Barcoding österreichischer Mollusken – Ein Projekt der Initiative „Austrian Barcode of Life“, Denisia 42: 511-515.
VINARSKI, M.V. & ESCHNER, A. (2016): Examination of the type material of freshwater mollusk species described by J.P.R. Draparnaud. - Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 118B: 29-53.