A 'mud dragon' from Ceuta.

 A 'mud dragon' from Ceuta, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences

The objective is to form a reference collection in the MNCN of this interesting group of invertebrates, practically unknown to the public and also to the majority of biologists.

Javier Sánchez Almazán, curator of the collection, explains: "As a curator, I greatly value this contribution from Alberto González Casarrubios who, by donating material from a group that was not represented in the museum, enriches our natural history collections."

An adult male collected in 2013

The Ceuta specimen is an "adult male, collected on May 22, 2013 in Ceuta." It is part of the scientific project 'Kinorrincos de España III: Golfo de Cádiz and Mar de Alborán', says Graellsia.

Kinorhynchuses are a phylum of small marine invertebrates (0.2 to 1 mm) that, as far as is known, inhabit soft sediment environments around the world. Currently, there are around 340 species known to live mainly in muddy soils where they are able to move thanks to the action of special spines they have on the front part of their body.

In addition to the donor, Alberto González Casarrubios, Nuria Sánchez Santos, Dolores García Ordóñez, María Herranz Matesanz, Diego Cepeda Gómez, Ricardo Cardoso Neves, Jesús Benito Salido and Fernando Pardos Martínez, participated in the process of donation, collection and determination of the specimens. great Spanish specialist of this group and one of the most recognized worldwide.