Census of Marine Malacofauna of the Italian Coasts

The project was conceived to increase and organize knowledge on the distribution of marine molluscs of the Italian coasts. This research was necessary because knowledge on the biogeography of the Mediterranean was quantitatively scarce and highlighted a lack of biogeographic data. The aim of the research was to create a database of marine molluscs present on the Italian coasts and their density.

Each piece of data (presence and density of a species) is completed by some environmental parameters (e.g. depth, environment, type of substrate, etc.). The main objective of this census was to study the qualitative composition of the coastal malacocenoses of the Italian peninsula and to determine the biogeographic distribution patterns of the different mollusc species, to identify the Lessepsian migrations and the anthropochoric introductions.

The data were obtained through a coordinated system of collectors, as well as using the results of various campaigns conducted by research institutions such as: Universities, ENEA, etc. The data collected were checked by SIM "trustees" especially with regard to the systematics. These data come from the old ENEA database, managed by the S. Teresa Centre of ENEA, which collected the data of The Census of the Italian Marine Malacofauna.