Malacology, from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

that deals with the study of the

Mollusca Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

(molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest

phylum In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...

of animals in terms of described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

after the

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. Mollusks include

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

s and

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...

s, and

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

, along with numerous other kinds, many of which have shells. Fields within malacological research include

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

. Several subdivisions of malacology exist, including

conchology Conchology, from Ancient Greek κόγχος (''kónkhos''), meaning "cockle (bivalve), cockle", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of mollus ...

, devoted to the study of mollusk shells, and

teuthology Teuthology (from Greek τεῦθος, "cuttlefish, squid", and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the study of cephalopods, which are members of the class Cephalopoda in the phylum Mollusca. Some common examples of cephalopods are octopus, squid, and ...

, the study of

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

s such as

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, and

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

. Applied malacology studies medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, for example the study of mollusks as vectors of

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical helminthiasis, disease caused by parasitism, parasitic Schistosoma, flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects ...

and other diseases.

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

employs malacology to understand the evolution of the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

, 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

Malacology evolved from the earlier discipline of

, which focused solely on the collection and classification of shells. The transformation into a comprehensive field of biological study occurred over several key historical milestones.

Early period pre-1795

Before the late

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

, the study of mollusks was limited to conchology, emphasizing the aesthetic and taxonomic value of

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

s. During this time, the term "mollusks" referred only to shell-less species such as

s and

s. Organisms with shells were classified under "

Testacea Testacea may refer to: * a former order of rhizopods, which consisted of testate amoeboid organisms. * a former group of shelled molluscs and other invertebrates, created by Linnaeus and roughly corresponding to the colloquial term ''seashell'' ...

", reflecting a limited understanding of their broader biological characteristics.

The contributions of Cuvier

In 1795, French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

introduced a new classification system for

s based on

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

observations. He proposed that mollusks represented a distinct group of

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

s unified by common morphological traits. This approach laid the groundwork for the transition from conchology to malacology, as it highlighted the importance of internal anatomy over external shell features.

Early 19th century

Following Cuvier’s work, the early

19th century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

saw an expansion of the field’s focus. Scientists began studying not only the external shells of mollusks but also their internal anatomy, physiological functions, and ecological roles. This marked a shift toward viewing mollusks as complete organisms, rather than merely as shell producers. The term "malacology" was officially introduced in 1825 by French

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

Henri-Marie Ducrotay de Blainville. Derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word "malakos" (meaning "soft"), it reflected a broader interest in the biological and ecological characteristics of mollusks, including their soft body structures. This moment is considered the formal establishment of malacology as a distinct scientific discipline.

Late 19th century and beyond

By the late 19th century, malacology had expanded further to encompass

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

, and

. Researchers investigated the relationships between mollusks and other invertebrates, as well as their roles in various ecosystems. The discipline continued to integrate new methodologies and technologies, solidifying its place within

Malacologists

Those who study malacology are known as malacologists. Those who study primarily or exclusively the shells of mollusks are known as

conchologist Conchology, from Ancient Greek κόγχος (''kónkhos''), meaning "cockle (bivalve), cockle", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of mollus ...

s, while those who study mollusks of the class

Cephalopoda A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

are teuthologists.

Societies

Western Society of Malacologists Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

'' (1865–1872) * '' American Malacological Bulletin'' * * ''

Basteria ''Basteria'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Netherlands Malacological Society, covering research on molluscs. It was established in 1936 and is now published mostly in English. The editor-in-chief is Ruud Bank. A ...

'' * '' Bulletin of Russian Far East Malacological Society'' * '' Fish & Shellfish Immunology'' * '' Folia conchyliologica'' * '' Folia Malacologica'' * '' Heldia'' * '' Johnsonia'' * ''

Journal de Conchyliologie A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'' – volumes 1850–1922 at

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...

; volumes 1850–1938 at

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

* ''

Journal of Conchology The ''Journal of Conchology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, covering research in conchology and malacology. It claims to be the world's oldest continuing publication on t ...

'' * '' Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology'' * ''

Journal of Molluscan Studies The ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Malacological Society of London, covering research in malacology.

'' * ''

Malacologia ''Malacologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of malacology, the study of mollusks. The journal publishes articles in the fields of molluscan systematics, ecology, population ecology, genetics, molecular genetics, evolution, an ...

'' * ''

Malacologica Bohemoslovaca ''Malacologica Bohemoslovaca'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all aspects of malacology. It was published by the Slovak Academy of Sciences since 2005. It is published by the Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of ...

'' * '' Malacological Review'' – volume 1 (1968) – today, contents of volume 27 (1996) – volume 40 (2009) * '' Soosiana'' * ''

Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie was a German-language journal for malacology. It was founded by Karl Theodor Menke in 1844. Starting in 1846, Ludwig Karl Georg Pfeiffer and Menke were co-editors-in-chief of the ''Zeitschrift''. There were 10 publis ...

'' (1844–1853) → ''

Malakozoologische Blätter Malakozoologische Blätter was a German-language journal for malacology. It was published from 1854 to 1891 as a continuation of '' Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie'' (which was published 1844–1853). Karl Theodor Menke and Ludwig Karl Georg Pfeiff ...

'' (1854–1878) * '' Miscellanea Malacologica'' * ''

'' * ''

Molluscan Research ''Molluscan Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the field of malacology with a preference for studies focusing on Australia and surrounding regions. The journal was established in 1957 as the ''Journal of the Malacol ...

'' –

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a type of journal ranking. Journals with higher impact factor values are considered more prestigious or important within their field. The Impact Factor of a journa ...

: 0.606 (2007) * '' Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft'' * '' Occasional Molluscan Papers'' (since 2008) * '' Occasional Papers on Mollusks'' (1945–1989), 5 volumes * '' Ruthenica'' * ''

Strombus ''Strombus'' is a genus of medium to large sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Strombidae, which comprises the true conchs and their immediate relatives. The genus ''Strombus'' was named by Swedi ...

'' * ''

Tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

'' – The Newsletter of the Mollusc Specialist Group of the

Species Survival Commission The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

. * ''The Conchologist'' (1891–1894) → ''The Journal of Malacology'' (1894–1905) * '' The Festivus'' – a journal which started as a club newsletter in 1970, published by the San Diego Shell Club * ''

The Nautilus ''Nautilus'' is the fictional submarine belonging to Captain Nemo featured in Jules Verne's novels ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (1870) and '' The Mysterious Island'' (1875). Description ''Nautilus'' is described by Verne as ...

'' – 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 Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

'' (Japanese Journal of Malacology) * ''

Vita Malacologica ''Vita Malacologica'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal on the subject of malacology, the study of the Mollusca. It is a print journal published in English by the Netherlands Malacological Society The Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging (NM ...

'' 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 The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natur ...

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

* Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum *

Cau del Cargol The Cau del Cargol Shells of the World Museum is a museum containing a large private collection of shells; it is situated in Vilassar de Dalt (Catalonia, Spain). The collection includes over 16,000 worldwide species of mollusc shells, from marine ...

Shell Museum * Maria Mitchell Association *

Museum of Comparative Zoology The Museum of Comparative Zoology (formally the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology and often abbreviated to MCZ) is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural-history r ...

at Harvard *

National Museum of Natural History, France The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the ...

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

Rinay Rinay is a Malacology, malacological List of natural history museums, museum of natural history in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is also the first private museum in the country. Structure The museum exhibits approximately 5,000 clam shells (the shells of ...

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences (, ; , ) is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history. It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (; ), itself part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSP ...

, Brussels: with a collection of more than 9 million shells (mainly from the collection of

Philippe Dautzenberg Philippe Dautzenberg (20 December 1849, in Ixelles, Brussels – 9 May 1935, in Paris) was a Belgian malacologist, a biologist who specializes in the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with mollusks. He was an amateur and autodidacticism, ...

) *

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Notes

References

External links

Periodicals about molluscs
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{Authority control Subfields of zoology Marine biology

History

Early period pre-1795

The contributions of Cuvier

Early 19th century

Late 19th century and beyond

Malacologists

Societies

Journals

Museums

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links