Expedition of Melita 1892, Molluscs collected on the coasts of Tunisia and Algeria

The current historical paper dated back in 1892, is available online through the Biodiversity Heritage Library at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10122164#page/379/mode/1up (pages 363-373). Its original title is #34;Campagne de la Melita, 1892. MOLLUSQUES RECUEILLIS SUR LES COTES DE LA TUNISIE ET DE L#39;ALGÉRIE, par Ph. DAUTZENBERG, ancient President de la Société#34;. This dataset presents dredging sampling events carried out by researchers off the north coast of Tunisia and Algeria, at several depths. The digitization and standardization process are related to the list of stations sampled and the species - belonging to Phyllum: Mollusca (classes: Pelecypoda, Scaphopoda, Gastropoda,) and Brachiopoda - found. This historical paper is digitized through a Citizen Science Workshop organized by the Hellenic Centre in Marine Research in Lecce, on 15 November 2023, using the Zooniverse platform.

IdentificationAbout this resource

Alternate Identifier: 10.15468/aat5rf

Alternate Identifier: http://ipt.medobis.eu/resource?r=melita

Publication Date: 2024-10-30

Title: Expedition of Melita 1892, Molluscs collected on the coasts of Tunisia and Algeria

Abstract: The current historical paper dated back in 1892, is available online through the Biodiversity Heritage Library at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10122164#page/379/mode/1up (pages 363-373). Its original title is #34;Campagne de la Melita, 1892. MOLLUSQUES RECUEILLIS SUR LES COTES DE LA TUNISIE ET DE L#39;ALGÉRIE, par Ph. DAUTZENBERG, ancient President de la Société#34;. This dataset presents dredging sampling events carried out by researchers off the north coast of Tunisia and Algeria, at several depths. The digitization and standardization process are related to the list of stations sampled and the species - belonging to Phyllum: Mollusca (classes: Pelecypoda, Scaphopoda, Gastropoda,) and Brachiopoda - found. This historical paper is digitized through a Citizen Science Workshop organized by the Hellenic Centre in Marine Research in Lecce, on 15 November 2023, using the Zooniverse platform.

Dataset Language: ENGLISH

Dataset Creator: HCMR-IMBBC - Melina Loulakaki (Computer Scientist)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
71003
,
GREECE

Dataset Creator: HCMR-IMBBC - Ioannis Rallis (Marine Biologist)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
71003
,
GREECE

Dataset Creator: HCMR-IMBBC - Dimitra Mavraki (Data manager)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
Crete
,
71003
,
GREECE

https://imbbc.hcmr.gr/

Metadata Provider: HCMR-IMBBC - Melina Loulakaki (Computer Scientist)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
71003
,
GREECE

Associated Party: CUSTODIAN_STEWARD

HCMR-IMBBC - Dimitra Mavraki (Data manager)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
Crete
,
71003
,
GREECE

https://imbbc.hcmr.gr/

Dataset Contact: HCMR-IMBBC - Dimitra Mavraki (Data manager)

Thalassocosmos, Former American Base
,
Heraklion
,
Crete
,
71003
,
GREECE

https://imbbc.hcmr.gr/

Keywords (GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type_2015-07-10.xml)

Sampling event

Keywords (none)

Citizen Science

Keywords (none)

Historical Dataset

Keywords (Marine Regions)

Mediterranean Sea

Geographic Coverage

Geographic Description: Coasts of Tunisia and Algeria

Bounding Box

West Bounding Coordinate: 4.878

East Bounding Coordinate: 11.689

North Bounding Coordinate: 38.031

South Bounding Coordinate: 32.361

Temporal Coverage

Range of Dates

Begin Date: 1892-08-29

End Date: 1892-10-19

Taxonomic Coverage

General Taxonomic Coverage: Mollusca

Taxonomic Classification

Taxonomic Rank Name: Phylum

Taxonomic Rank Value: Mollusca

resourceLicensesLicense Information

Intellectual Rights

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Resource License

License Name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html

Identifier: CC-BY-4.0

Distribution

Online

URL: http://ipt.medobis.eu/archive.do?r=melita

Additional Metadata

Metadata

GBIF Metadata Block

Date Stamp: 2026-04-14T08:23:47Z

Citation: Loulakaki M, Rallis I, Mavraki D (2024). Expedition of Melita 1892, Molluscs collected on the coasts of Tunisia and Algeria. Hellenic Center for Marine Research. Sampling event dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/aat5rf accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-04-14.

• Project

Title: EMODnet Biology phase 5

Abstract: This is a historical paper and its digitisation took place in the framework of the EMODnet Biology phase 5.

Funding

Design Description

Description: The digitisation process of the historical paper, which is available online in the Biodiversity Heritage Library, started during the Citizen Science Workshop organised on 15 November 2023 in Lecce and ended after data curation of the Hellenic Centre Marine Research Data Management Team.

• Method

Method Step

Description: The process started by volunteers using the Zooniverse platform, following a methodical workflow with simple tasks supported by tutorial, guidelines, and tips for transcribing the data and transforming it into the Darwin Core standards – a widely accepted, machine-readable format. This approach ensures that volunteers with various educational backgrounds can seamlessly participate in the transcription and FAIRification process of this historical marine biodiversity data. Volunteers managed to successfully complete all tasks of the CS project built in the Zooniverse platform, in a period of 76 days. Their responses were extracted in .csv format and with a specific-designed script ( https://github.com/melinalou/Emodnet5/tree/main) and manual modification, the data were transformed into a human-readable .xlsx format. To ensure data quality, online tools such as the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) taxon match tool ( https://www.marinespecies.org/tutorial_taxonmatch.php) were employed for cross-referencing taxonomic information, while Marine Regions ( https://www.marineregions.org/) and Map Maker ( https://maps.co/) were used to correct coordinate uncertainties

Sampling

Study Extent: Melita Campaign, 1892: Molluscs collected on the coasts of Tunisia and Algeria.

Sampling Description: The main equipment used, as described in the original paper, is the following: trawl, trawl and net and dredging.

qualityControl

Description: Taxonomy is mapped according to the WoRMS; while for localities we use the Marine Regions Gazetteer and the OBIS Map Tool.