Malacology

Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species 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).

History

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

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

•  [es] (Asociación Argentina de Malacología)
• (Stowarzyszenie Malakologów Polskich)
• (Société Belge de Malacologie) – French speaking
•  [nl] – Dutch speaking
• (Sociedade Brasileira de Malacologia)
• Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
• Dutch Malacological Society
• Estonian Malacological Society
• (Deutsche Malakozoologische Gesellschaft)
• (Magyar Malakológiai Társaság)
• (Società Italiana di Malacologia)
• Malacological Society of London
• (Sociedad Mexicana de Malacología y Conquiliología)
• (Sociedad Española de Malacología)

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. They include:

• (1865–1872)
• Archiv für Molluskenkunde
• Basteria
• Folia Malacologica
• Johnsonia
• – volumes 1850–1922 at Biodiversity Heritage Library; volumes 1850–1938 at Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Journal of Conchology
• Journal of Molluscan Studies
• Malacologia
• Malacologica Bohemoslovaca
• – volume 1 (1968) – today, contents of volume 27 (1996) – volume 40 (2009)
• Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie (1844–1853) → Malakozoologische Blätter (1854–1878)
• Miscellanea Malacologica
• Molluscan Research – impact factor: 0.606 (2007)
• Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft
• (since 2008)
• (1945–1989), 5 volumes
• Strombus
• – The Newsletter of the Mollusc Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• The Conchologist (1891–1894) → The Journal of Malacology (1894–1905)
• The Festivus – a peer-reviewed journal which started as a club newsletter in 1970, published by the
• 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)
• The Veliger – impact factor: 0.606 (2003)
• 貝類学雑誌 (Japanese Journal of Malacology)
• Vita Malacologica a Dutch journal published in English – one themed issue a year
• Vita Marina (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

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3. "Buonanni's Chiocciole (1681)". 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.
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24. "Malacological Review". Archived from the original on 2012-07-03.
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34. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2011-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
35. "Strombus online". www.conchasbrasil.org.br. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
36. "TENTACLE". Archived from the original on 2010-06-03.
37. Details – The Conchologist. – Biodiversity Heritage Library. 1891. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2018. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
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39. Official site of The Festivus Archived 2009-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
40. "THE NAUTILUS. A Quarterly Devoted to Malacology". shellmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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42. "Journal Impact Factor 2003". sciencegateway.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
43. "CiNii Articles – 貝類学雑誌Venus : the Japanese journal of malacology" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-12-26.
44. 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