A note on the first registered Mollusca in the National Zoological Collections at the Zoological Survey of India

Abstract

Museum collections are important refer­ence system for the study of extinct and extant species. The voucher specimens collected during various faunistic field surveys and explorations pre­served and deposited in natural history museums help in identifying species, their habitat, study on their ecology and behavior and tracking the historical background of such collections. The NZC present in different sections of Zoological Survey of India have been acquired from the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the Zoological section of the Indian Mu­seum and collections through various surveys since early part of 19th century. During the famous marine expedition by Investigators, apart from naturalists, many other private donors including ship captains, geologists and physicians who have contributed to the Indian Museum through their personal collections. This paper deals with such a collection made by a Branch Pilot and which also happen to be the first registered mollusca collection of the Indian Museum now under the custody of the National Zoological Collection at the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.