Malacology

Malacology is the study of mollusks (snails, clams, octopods, etc.).

The Malacology Department promotes the scientific study, conservation, and acquisition of extant mollusk species including gastropods (marine, terrestrial, and freshwater snails and slugs), bivalves (marine and freshwater clams), cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus), polyplacophorans (chitons), scaphopods (tusk shells), aplacophorans (wormlike mollusks), and monoplacophorans (‘primitive’ limpetlike snails). The collection is worldwide in scope with an emphasis on the eastern Pacific Ocean (arctic Alaska to southern Chile) and includes an estimated 500,000 lots containing approximately 4.5 million specimens.

Malacology staff, associates, and volunteers sort, identify and verify specimen identifications, curate, rehouse, database, and incorporate specimens into the research collection. These tasks represent a huge undertaking in terms of the number of specimens incorporated into the collection annually. Malacology is active in museum programs, offering hands-on experiences with both extinct and extant mollusks and local geology. 

Search our collection

You can search more than 118,000 digitized records from our collection in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Our institution code is LACM and our collection code is Malacology.

RESOURCES

In addition to using our world-class malacology collection as a resource to identify specimens, some helpful identification guides include:

• Abbott, R.T. 1974. American Seashells. Second edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company: New York, NY. 663 p.
• Abbott, R.T. 1989. Compendium of Landshells. American Malacologists, Inc.: Melbourne, FL. vii + 240 p.
• Abbott, R.T. and Dance, S.P. 1982. Compendium of Seashells. Second edition. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL. 411 p.
• Brtacher, T. and Cernohorsky, W.O. 1987. Living Terebras of the World. American Malacologists, Inc.: Melbourne, FL. 240 p.
• Burgess, C.M. 1985. Cowries of the World. Seacomber Publications: Cape Town, South Africa.  xiv + 289 p.
• Coan, E.V., Valentich-Scott, P. 2010. Bivalve Seashells of Tropical West America: Marine Bivalve Mollusks from Baja California to Northern Peru. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs 6, vi + 1258 p.
• Coan, E.V., Valentich-Scott, P., and Bernard, F.R. 2000. Bivalve Seashells of Western North America: Marine Bivalve Mollusks From Arctic Alaska to Baja California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs 2, viii + 764 p.
• Geiger, D.L. & Owen, B. 2012. Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germanh
• Grant, U.S., IV, and Gale, H.R. 1931. Catalogue of the Marine Pliocene and Pleistocene Mollusca of California and Adjacent Regions. Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History 1, 1036 p.
• Kay, E.A. 1979. Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii 4, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 64(4), Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu, Hawaii. xvii + 653 p.
• Keen, A.M. 1971. Sea Shells of Tropical West America: Marine Mollusks From Baja California to Peru. Second edition. Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA. xiv + 1064 p.
• Lorenz, F. and Hubert, A. 2000. A Guide to Worldwide Cowries. Second revised and enlarged edition. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 584 p.
• Lorenz, F. and Fehse, D. 2009. The Living Ovulidae. A manual of the families of allied cowries: Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 651 p.
• McLean, J.H. 1979. Marine Shells of Southern California. Revised edition. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series 24, 104 p.
• Okutani, T. (ed.). 2000. Marine Mollusks in Japan. Tokai University Press: Tokyo, Japan. xlviii + 1173 p.
• Poppe, G.T. 2008. Philippine Marine Mollusks, volumes 1 & 2. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany.  v. 1, 759 p., v. 2, 848 p.
• Poppe, G.T. 2010. Philippine Marine Mollusks, volume 3. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 665 p.
• Poppe, G.T. 2011. Philippine Marine Mollusks, volume 4. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 676 p.
• Powell, A.W.B. 1979. New Zealand Mollusca. William Collins Publishers, Ltd.: Auckland, New Zealand. xiv + 500 p.
• Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells: Prosobranch Gastropods, Pt. 1. Odyssey Publishing: Kallaroo, Australia. 408 p.
• Wilson, B. 1994.  Australian Marine Shells: Prosobranch Gastropods, Pt. 2 (Neogastropods). Odyssey Publishing: Kallaroo, Australia. 370 p.