Malacology

Malacology^[a] is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species^[1] after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, and cephalopods, along with numerous other kinds, many of which have shells. Malacology derives from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós) 'soft', and -λογία (-logía).

A bigfin reef squid displaying considerably developed ocular, locomotive, and bioluminescent organs, all particularly of interest to the malacological study of its class Cephalopoda.

Fields within malacological research include taxonomy, ecology and evolution. Several subdivisions of malacology exist, including conchology, devoted to the study of mollusk shells, and teuthology, the study of cephalopods such as octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Applied malacology studies medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, for example the study of mollusks as vectors of schistosomiasis and other diseases.

Archaeology employs malacology to understand the evolution of the climate, the biota of the area, and the usage of the site.^{[citation needed]}

Zoological methods are used in malacological research. Malacological field methods and laboratory methods (such as collecting, documenting and archiving, and molecular techniques) were summarized by Sturm et al. (2006).^[2]

History

In 1681, Filippo Bonanni wrote the first book ever published that was solely about seashells, the shells of marine mollusks.^[3] The book was entitled: Ricreatione dell' occhio e dela mente nell oservation' delle Chiociolle, proposta a' curiosi delle opere della natura, &c.^[4] In 1868, the German Malacological Society was founded.

Malacologists

Main article: List of malacologists

Those who study malacology are known as malacologists. Those who study primarily or exclusively the shells of mollusks are known as conchologists, while those who study mollusks of the class Cephalopoda are teuthologists.

Societies

• American Malacological Society
• Association of Polish Malacologists (Stowarzyszenie Malakologów Polskich)
• Belgian Malacological Society (Société Belge de Malacologie) – French speaking
• Belgian Society for Conchology [nl] – Dutch speaking
• Brazilian Malacological Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Malacologia)^[5]
• Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
• Conchologists of America
• Dutch Malacological Society
• Estonian Malacological Society
• European Quaternary Malacologists
• Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society
• German Malacological Society (Deutsche Malakozoologische Gesellschaft)
• Hungarian Malacological Society (Magyar Malakológiai Társaság)
• Italian Malacological Society (Società Italiana di Malacologia)
• Malacological Society of Australasia
• Malacological Society of London
• Malacological Society of the Philippines, Inc.
• Mexican Malacological Society (Sociedad Mexicana de Malacología y Conquiliología)^[6]
• Spanish Malacological Society (Sociedad Española de Malacología)
• Western Society of Malacologists

Journals

More than 150 journals within the field of malacology are being published from more than 30 countries, producing an overwhelming amount of scientific articles.^[7] They include:

• American Journal of Conchology (1865–1872)^[8]
• American Malacological Bulletin^[9]
• Archiv für Molluskenkunde^[10]
• Basteria^[11]
• Bulletin of Russian Far East Malacological Society^[12]
• Fish & Shellfish Immunology^[13]
• Folia conchyliologica^[14]
• Folia Malacologica^[15][16]
• Heldia^[17]
• Johnsonia
• Journal de Conchyliologie – volumes 1850–1922^[18] at Biodiversity Heritage Library; volumes 1850–1938^[19] at Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Journal of Conchology^[20]
• Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology^[21]
• Journal of Molluscan Studies
• Malacologia
• Malacologica Bohemoslovaca^[22]
• Malacological Review – volume 1 (1968) – today,^[23] contents of volume 27 (1996) – volume 40 (2009)^[24]
• Soosiana
• Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie (1844–1853)^[25] → Malakozoologische Blätter (1854–1878)^[26]
• Miscellanea Malacologica
• Mollusca^[27]
• Molluscan Research^[28] – impact factor: 0.606 (2007)^[29]
• Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft^[30]
• Occasional Molluscan Papers (since 2008)^[31]
• Occasional Papers on Mollusks (1945–1989), 5 volumes^[32]
• Ruthenica^[33]
• Strombus^[34]
• Tentacle – The Newsletter of the Mollusc Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.^[35]
• The Conchologist (1891–1894)^[36] → The Journal of Malacology (1894–1905)^[37]
• The Festivus – a peer-reviewed journal which started as a club newsletter in 1970, published by the San Diego Shell Club^[38]
• The Nautilus – since 1886 published by Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. First two volumes were published under name The Conchologists’ Exchange. Impact factor: 0.500 (2009)^[39]
• The Veliger^[40] – impact factor: 0.606 (2003)^[41]
• 貝類学雑誌 Venus (Japanese Journal of Malacology)^[42]
• Vita Malacologica a Dutch journal published in English – one themed issue a year
• Vita Marina^[43] (discontinued in May 2001)

Museums

 

Malacological Museum in Makarska, Croatia (entrance)

Museums that have either exceptional malacological research collections (behind the scenes) and/or exceptional public exhibits of mollusks:

• Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
• American Museum of Natural History
• Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
• Cau del Cargol Shell Museum
• Maria Mitchell Association
• Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard
• National Museum of Natural History, France
• Natural History Museum, London
• Rinay
• Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels: with a collection of more than 9 million shells (mainly from the collection of Philippe Dautzenberg)
• Smithsonian Institution

See also

• Invertebrate paleontology
• History of invertebrate paleozoology
• Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology

Notes

1. From the French malacologie, contraction of malacozoologie; from the Neo-Latin Malacozoa, 'zoological group including soft-bodied animals'; from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós) 'soft', and ζῷον (zôion) 'animal'.

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
2. Charles F. Sturm; Timothy A. Pearce; Ángel Valdés (July 2006). The mollusks. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-930-4.
3. . ansp.org. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
4. (in Italian) Bonanni F. 1681. Ricreatione dell' occhio e dela mente nell oservation' delle Chiociolle, proposta a' curiosi delle opere della natura, &c. 1681. Varese, Rome, xiv, 384 pp., 109 plates. figure 101.
5. "Sociedade Brasileira de Malacologia". from the original on 2015-04-14.
6. "Sociedad de Malacolología de México A.C." from the original on 2012-03-26.
7. Bieler & Kabat, Malacological Journals and Newsletters, 1773–1990; The Nautilus 105(2):39–61, 1991 2018-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
8. Tryon, George Washington, 1838–1888. "Details – American journal of conchology. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". from the original on 2017-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. "American Malacological Society". from the original on 2010-12-03.
10. "Archiv für Molluskenkunde (ISSN 1869-0963, e-ISSN 2367-0622), Optional Open Access)".
11. Basteria 2015-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
12. The Bulletin of the Russian Far East Malacological Society 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
13. Elsevier. "Fish and Shellfish Immunology". from the original on 2010-01-12.
14. GuppY. "Cernuelle – Folia Conchyliologica" (in French). Archived from the original on 2011-01-27.
15. "Editorial SMP". from the original on 2008-09-22.
16. Folia Malacologica 2009-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
17. . Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
18. "Details – Journal de conchyliologie. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". from the original on 2017-10-27.
19. "Journal de conchyliologie – 77 années disponibles – Gallica". from the original on 2016-02-16.
20. "Journal of Conchology – The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland".
21. "Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology". from the original on 2010-07-29.
22. "Malacologica Bohemoslovaca" (in English and Czech). from the original on 2008-04-20.
23. "Malacological Review". from the original on 2012-07-03.
24. [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
25. Menke, Karl Theodor, 1791–1861. "Details – Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". from the original on 2017-07-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
26. Clessin, Steph., 1833–. "Details – Malakozoologische Blätter. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". from the original on 2017-07-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
27. "Mollusca Journal – 2007 to 2009 – The Last Issue – Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden". from the original on 2008-10-11.
28. "Molluscan Research – online contents".
29. General Information. accessed 6 December 2010].
30. . Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
31. "Occasional Molluscan Papers" 2015-08-22 at the Wayback Machine. last change 2 December 2014, accessed 23 August 2016.
32. Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology. "Details – Occasional papers on mollusks. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". from the original on 2017-07-20.
33. "Archived copy". from the original on 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2011-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
34. . www.conchasbrasil.org.br. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
35. "TENTACLE". from the original on 2010-06-03.
36. "Details – The Conchologist. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". www.biodiversitylibrary.org. from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
37. "Details – The Journal of malacology. – Biodiversity Heritage Library". www.biodiversitylibrary.org. from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
38. Official site of The Festivus 2009-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
39. "THE NAUTILUS. A Quarterly Devoted to Malacology". shellmuseum.org. from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
40. . Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
41. "Journal Impact Factor 2003". sciencegateway.org. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
42. "CiNii Articles – 貝類学雑誌Venus : the Japanese journal of malacology" (in Japanese). from the original on 2009-12-26.
43. Vita marina. Stichting Biologia Maritima (Netherlands). 'S Gravenhage. OCLC 13862636.

Further reading

• Cox L. R. & Peake J. F. (eds.). Proceedings of the First European Malacological Congress. September 17–21, 1962. Text in English with black-and-white photographic reproductions, also maps and diagrams. Published by the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Malacological Society of London in 1965 with no ISBN.
• Heppel D. (1995). "The long dawn of Malacology: a brief history of malacology from prehistory to the year 1800." Archives of Natural History 22(3): 301–319.

External links

  Media related to Malacology at Wikimedia Commons

• Periodicals about molluscs at WorldCat