Malacology

Malacology 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 after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, and cephalopods, along with numerous other kinds, many of which have shells. Malacology derives .
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.
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: 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
American Malacological Society
Association of Polish Malacologists
Belgian Malacological Society – French speaking
– Dutch speaking
Brazilian Malacological Society
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
Hungarian Malacological Society
Italian Malacological Society
Malacological Society of Australasia
Malacological Society of London
Malacological Society of the Philippines, Inc.
Mexican Malacological Society
Spanish Malacological Society
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. They include:
American Journal of Conchology (1865–1872)
American Malacological Bulletin
Basteria
Bulletin of Russian Far East Malacological Society
Fish & Shellfish Immunology
Folia conchyliologica
Folia Malacologica
Heldia
Johnsonia
Journal de Conchyliologie – volumes 1850–1922 at Biodiversity Heritage Library; volumes 1850–1938 at Bibliothèque nationale de France
Journal of Conchology
Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology
Journal of Molluscan Studies
Malacologia
Malacologica Bohemoslovaca
Malacological Review – volume 1 (1968) – today, contents of volume 27 (1996) – volume 40 (2009)
Soosiana
Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie (1844–1853) → Malakozoologische Blätter (1854–1878)
Miscellanea Malacologica
Mollusca
Molluscan Research – impact factor: 0.606 (2007)
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft
Occasional Molluscan Papers (since 2008)
Occasional Papers on Mollusks (1945–1989), 5 volumes
Ruthenica
Strombus
Tentacle – 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 San Diego Shell Club
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 Venus (Japanese Journal of Malacology)
Vita Malacologica a Dutch journal published in English – one themed issue a year
Vita Marina (discontinued in May 2001)
Museums
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
References
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
Periodicals about molluscs at WorldCat
Subfields of zoology
Marine biology