Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca, 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).
Conchology is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includes the study of land and freshwater mollusc shells as well as seashells and extends to the study of a gastropod's operculum.
The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland is a British-based society concerned with the study of molluscs and their shells. It was founded in 1876, and is one of the oldest such societies in the world. It is a registered UK charity that anyone can join. It promotes the study of molluscs and their conservation, through meetings, publications, workshops, field meetings, and distribution recording schemes.
Afrivoluta pringlei, commonly known as the pringle's marginella, is a species of large deep water sea snail with a glossy shell, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Marginellonidae.
John Gwyn Jeffreys FRS was a British conchologist and malacologist.
Zenobiellina subrufescens is a species of small air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Hygromiidae.
John Read le Brockton Tomlin was a British malacologist. He was one of the founders of the Malacological Society of London and was president of the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland on two separate occasions.
Babelomurex virginiae is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Afrivoluta is a genus of large deepwater sea snails with glossy shells, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Marginellonidae.
The Malacological Society of London is a British learned society and charitable organisation concerned with malacology, the study of molluscs, a large phylum of invertebrate animals divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two are extinct.
The umbo is the vaguely defined, often most prominent, highest part of each valve of the shell of a bivalve or univalve mollusc. It usually contains the valve's beak, the oldest point of the valve, and its degree of prominence and position relative to the hinge line are sometimes helpful in distinguishing bivalve taxa. The umbo forms while the animal is a juvenile, and radial growth subsequently proceeds around that area. The umbo is situated above the hinge line. In those bivalves where the umbones do not protrude, as is the case for example in some mussels, the umbones can nonetheless usually be readily identified by examining the concentric growth lines of the shell.
John Wilfrid Jackson was a British conchologist, archaeologist and geologist.
Stella Maris Turk, MBE was a British zoologist, naturalist, and conservationist. She was known for her activities in marine biology and conservation, particularly as it applies to marine molluscs and mammals. Turk became a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2002, and was awarded the Stamford Raffles Award by the Zoological Society of London in 1979.
Arthur Erskine Ellis, often known as A.E. Ellis, was a British scientist, biologist and naturalist. Ellis is best known for his large number of malacological publications, including some which became essential texts on the subject of British non-marine malacology. To a lesser extent, Ellis published papers about other land invertebrates and various aspects of the fauna and flora of Britain. In addition Ellis had five ghost stories published.
A lunule is an anatomical feature which is found in the exterior surface of the shells of some species of clams, bivalve mollusks, as for example in the family Veneridae and in the genus Ascetoaxinus.
Born Eleanor Fisher, the first of Ernest and Janet Fisher's two daughters, in Belfast on 16 March 1908, but known even then as "Nora", Nora Fisher McMillan, as she became, was a larger-than-life self-taught expert in natural history, especially conchology, specialising in post-glacial fresh-water Mollusca, but with broad academic interests in the history of natural history, geology and other areas, as well as being a keen amateur botanist, naturalist and local historian. She wrote prolifically, with over 400 publications to her name.
Vera Fretter was a British conchologist, and one of the authors of British Prosobranch Molluscs.
George William Chaster was an English medical doctor, entomologist, and conchologist.
