The Malacological Society of London is a British

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership m ...

and charitable organisation concerned with malacology, the study of

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

, a large phylum of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

animals divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two are extinct. Founded in 1893, the society was one of the earliest such national bodies anywhere in the world concerned only with molluscs, although the

Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland 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 (n ...

is older.

History

The society was founded in 1893 "to advance education, research and learning for the public benefit in the study of Mollusca from both pure and applied aspects".home page
of malacsoc.org.uk (official web site) The society's first president was Henry Woodward. On 15 September 1901 the society lost its secretary, Martin Fountain Woodward, who was drowned when a boat he was travelling in capsized off the coast of County Galway while he was in temporary charge of the marine biological laboratory of the Fisheries Board for Ireland at Innisbofin. Founding members included the

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and malacologist E. A. Smith, president of the society from 1901 to 1903, and J. R. le B. Tomlin, who named more than a hundred

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

of gastropod molluscs. Another notable early member was the geologist Caroline Birley, who joined the society in 1894.

Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen FRS FZS FRGS MBOU (6 July 1834 – 2 December 1923), known until 1854 as Henry Haversham Austen, was an English topographer, surveyor, naturalist and geologist. He explored the mountains ...

(1834–1923), author of ''The Land and Freshwater Mollusca of India'' (1882–1887) and George Bond Howes (1853–1905) were early presidents of the society, and M. W. K. Connolly, who published some fifty papers on molluscs, was a member of the society from 1908 to 1938 and was president of the

Conchological Society 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 ( ...

in 1930. The Australian naturalist

Charles Hedley Charles Hedley (27 February 1862 – 14 September 1926) was a naturalist, specifically a malacologist. Born in Britain, he spent most of his life in Australia. He was the winner of the 1925 Clarke Medal. Early life Hedley was born in the vicara ...

was a vice-president of the society from 1923 until his death in 1926. Ronald Winckworth, a member since 1919, served as the society's editor and went on to be its president from 1939 to 1942.

Work

Molluscs range in size from cephalopods such as the octopus and

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trac ...

to microscopic gastropod

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

s, and the society is concerned with some 85,000 recognised extant

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, which include 23 per cent of all named marine

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

s as well as molluscs living in freshwater and terrestrial

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. It is also interested in the species (including those of the two extinct classes of molluscs) preserved as

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s, which creates a relationship with the study of geology. In association with the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, the society publishes the ''

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.

'', previously called ''Proceedings of the Malacological Society'', and ''Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London'', an international journal to disseminate new research work on molluscs, and also a bulletin, ''The Malacologist'', for its own members, to which there is free access on the society's web site. The society organises meetings and symposia and seeks to advance education about and awareness of molluscs. It gives prizes for contributions in its field and makes awards to students (and also to others who are not employed) to enable them to travel and research malacological subjects. An annual Malacological Society "Molluscan Forum" takes place at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

, London, with the 14th held in November 2011. An informal event, this is intended to bring together people beginning mollusc research, whether palaeontological, physiological, ecological, morphological, systematic, or molecular, with time for presentations and discussions. Attendance is open to all, at no charge, but those wishing to give presentations should be students engaged on molluscan projects or amateurs with substantial unpublished work. The society has been registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales since 1978, with the registration number 275980.

Structure

Membership of the society is open to all by subscription, with three classes of members, student members, ordinary members and honorary members, of whom there can be no more than five at any one time.Rules
at malacsoc.org.uk, accessed 6 March 2012 The society's affairs are managed by a council consisting of officers and members elected at annual general meetings. Six elected members of the council, who are called councillors, serve for three years each, with two vacancies arising every year. The officers are a president, two vice-presidents, an honorary secretary and an honorary treasurer, a membership secretary, the editor of the journal and the editor of ''The Malacologist'', an awards officer, and a web manager. Up to four additional members of the council can be co-opted.Officers
at malacsoc.org.uk, accessed 6 March 2012

Similar societies

In the UK: *

In other countries: * American Malacological Society * Malacological Society of Australasia * Belgian Malacological Society * Estonian Malacological Society * German Malacological Society * Hawaiian Malacological Society * Israel Malacological Society * Italian Malacological Society * Malacological Society of Japan *

Netherlands Malacological Society The Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging (NMV), known in English as the Netherlands Malacological Society or the Dutch Malacological Society, is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands. It is a society devoted to malacology (the study o ...

Association of Polish Malacologists Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

* European Quaternary Malacologists * Conchologists of America

References

External links