Malacology

Malacology is the study of molluscs. These animals include snails, slugs, octopus, squid, and bivalves generally, such as clams and mussels. Most of them have shells. The shells are often collected for their beauty and interest. Many people eat molluscs, especially those people who live near the ocean.

Those scientists who study molluscs are called malacologists. They identify and classify them, and find out everything they can about their lives.

 Types 
 Types of gastropods 
The gastropods are the most common type of mollusc. They have about 70,000 described species.
 marine gastropod
 sea snail
 sea slug
 non-marine gastropod
 freshwater gastropod: with very few exceptions, the only freshwater molluscs are freshwater snails
 freshwater snail
 terrestrial gastropod: gastropods are the only group of molluscs which have some species living on land
 land snail
 land slug
 semi-slug

 Types of bivalves 
With 20,000 described species, bivalves are the second commonest class of molluscs. There are several classifications of bivalves in use. This is a rough guide:
Pteromorphia including the
File shells
Mussels
Oysters
Pearl oysters and pen shells
Heterodonta
Soft-shelled clams
Shipworms (Turedo)
Hard-shelled clams, cockles and razor shells

Malacologists
 Horace Burrington Baker (1889–1991)Horace Burrington Baker (1889–1971)
 Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850)
 Jean Guillaume Bruguière (1749-1798) 
 William J. Clench (1897-1984)
 Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
 Gérard Paul Deshayes (1795-1875)
 John Edward Gray (1800-1875) 
 Otto Friedrich Müller (1730-1784) 
 Alcide d'Orbigny (1802-1857)
 Isabel Pérez Farfante (1916-2009)History USNMCriales, María M. 2009. Obituario: Isabel Pérez-Farfante 24 de julio de 1916 – 20 de agosto de 2009. Ciencia y Mar. XIII(37):77-80.
 Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840)Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840)
 Lovell Augustus Reeve (1814-1865)Conchologica Iconica
 María Isabel Scott Hylton (1889-1990)Ni solas ni resignadas: la participación femenina en las actividades científico-académicas de la Argentina en los inicios del siglo XX
James Sowerby (1757–1822)
 George Brettingham Sowerby I (1788-1854) 
 George Brettingham Sowerby II (1812-1884) 
 George Brettingham Sowerby III (1843-1921) 
 William Swainson (1789-1855)

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

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
 American Museum of Natural History
 Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
 Cau del Cargol Shell Museum
 Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard
 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

 Some mollusks 

References

Category:Branches of zoology
Category:Molluscs