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Useful
Websites
Tentacle
issues 9 and 10 are now available in PDF format on the web at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~cowie/
Tentacle is the
newsletter of the Mollusc Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission
of IUCN, and essential reading for up-to-date information on molluscan
conservation issues worldwide. Rob Cowie, the Tentacle editor, is inviting
contributions for issue 11.
Opisthobranch
workers will need no introduction to Steve Long's http://seaslug.com
site, but for anyone else stuck inside on a wet and windy winter, the
links to 7,500 colour photographs of these stunning creatures will re-awaken
their enthusiasm.
Apple
Snails have a good site at http://applesnail.net/
authored by Stijn Ghesquiere, with sections on their care, ecology,
species, anatomy, embryology, genetics, pesta staus etc.
ARKive
request for images of endangered British molluscs
ARKive is a not for
profit initiative of The Wildscreen Trust & aims to digitally preserve
images of endangered species for educational & scientific purposes.
Currently images of
endangered species are scattered throughout a variety of commercial,
specialist and private collections & owners are being asked to donate
copies of their images to ARKive to create one central record.
The Heritage Lottery
Fund have donated £1.6 million to ARKive, for research to start
on the British Chapter. Over 1000 British endangered & some common
species will be available on the web. We are currently looking for images
& footage of the 499 species on the English Nature Species Recovery
Plan Priority List, which includes 12 Molluscs. As these are endangered
species, it is societies such as the Malacological Society of London
that have been most helpful to us in being able to provide images.
If anyone has images
of the following species or other endangered British molluscs, we would
be very interested to hear from you:
- Sandbowl snail
Catinella arenaria
- Freshwater pearl
mussel Margaritifera margaritifera
- Glutinous snail
Myxas glutinosa
- A freshwater pea
mussel Pisidium tenuilineatum
- Depressed river
mussel Pseudanodonta complanata
- Shining ramshorn
snail Segmentina nitida
- Lagoon sea slug
Tenella adspersa
- Water snail Valvata
macrostoma
- Whorl snail Vertigo
angustior
- Whorl snail Vertigo
genesii
- Whorl snail Vertigo
geyeri
- Desmoulin's whorl
snail Vertigo moulinsiana
Unfortunately ARKive
cannot afford to pay for images, but will cover all postal costs etc.
All images that are digitised into the ARK will be credited to the donor
& contact details made available on the website. To protect donors
& their rights, ARKive has drawn up a Copyright Licence Agreement.
This and further information are available if you would like to get
involved with ARKive.
I hope you will be
interested in this project, current collaborators & supporters include
BBC, Oxford Scientific Films, Granada Wild, Bruce Coleman Collection,
WWF, WCMC, Flora & Fauna International as well as many amateur naturalists
& photographers.
Emma
Millett
ARKive Media Researcher
The Wildscreen Trust
Anchor Road, Bristol BS1 5TT, UK Direct
line: +44 (0)117
915 7141
Fax: +44 (0)117 915 7105
Email:
emma...@wildscreen.org.uk
Morpho
- General Taylor
Many members
may not be aware that John Taylor, our Journal editor for 17 years,
and former President, officially retired last year, although he will
continue to work as before at the Natural History Museum. To celebrate,
a dinner party was held in Vienna, where friends spoke about Johnís
career. Alan Kohn of the University of Washington in Seattle, wrote
a poem based on W. S. Gilbertís patter song ëI am the very
model of a modern Major Generalí from the ëPirates of Penzanceí.
This seemed ideal for the occasion, and is reproduced here, along with
a few photographs of the occasion by David Reid.
Peter
Mordan
- He is the very
model of a mollusc Morpho-General,
- With knowledge
gastropodical, bivalve and bio-mineral;
- He knows the
kings of England, and he quotes the times historical,
- From Blackdown
Greensand (Albian) to K-T bounds meteorical;
- Heís very
well acquainted too with matters shell mechanical,
- He understands
equations, both the simple and organical;
- About binominal
nomenclature he teems with lots o' news
- Of rastafarian
lucinoids dredged up from bottom ooze.
- He knows the
mythic history of their pipeworks periostracal,
- Not religious
but thiophilous, their dreadlocks wax agnostical.
- He quotes in
elegiacs on the food of mitrid gastropods,
- Distinguishing
the sipunc hooks from the undetermined clods.
- In conids he
can floor peculiarities phyletic,
- And he tells
undoubted turrids by their features morphometric.
- Then he can hum
a fugue of Duplicaria's excursions,
- And whistle all
the airs of Pervicacia's perversions.
- He uses foregut
characters to ascertain relations
- Of all the toxoglossan
clades, with few prevarications.
- In short in matters
gastropod, bivalve and biomineral,
- He is the very
model of a mollusc Morpho-General.
- He's served BM
and NMH a third part of a century,
- With field molluscan
studies widespread, plucky and adventury,
- From Guam to
Seychelles and Aldabra,
- Red Sea, and
all around Australia.
- Age catches up:
the flawed requirement
- Of forcibly compelled
retirement;
- But fear not,
John, molluscan Morpho-General,
- Carry on research,
and editing the journal.
- All wish you
well in matters gastropod, bivalve, and bio-mineral,
- We hail the
very model of a mollusc Morpho-General!
A.J.K. (with apologies to W.S.G.)
From
the dinner:
John
Taylor himself.
Fred
Wells, Thierry Backeljau, Emily Glover, John Taylor; Alison
Kay, Kathe Jansen, Jørgen Knudsen; Alan
Kohn.
Gerhard
Steiner, Brian Morton, Liz Platts, Gerhard Haszprunar; Rüdiger
Bieler, Paula Mikkelson, Philippe Bouchet; Winston
Ponder, Kathie Way. Suzanne Williams.
For
Sale - Back Numbers of Journal of Molluscan Studies
The following issues
are offered for sale to members, at £5 for each of the loose
parts. This is a small fraction of the annual subscription, and far
less than would be charged by commercial sellers! Bids are invited
for the long journal runs.
53-65
inclusive (two sets of these volumes) |
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38(4)
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57(1,3,4,suppl.)
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46(2,3)
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58(1,3,4)
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47(1,2,3)
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59(1,4)
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48(l)
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61(l)
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52(2,3)
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62(1,2,3,4)
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53(1,3)
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63(1,2,3,4)
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54(1,2,3,4)
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64(3,4)
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55(1,2,4)
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65(3,4)
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56(1,2,3,4)
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66(2,3,4)
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Also available
are: Malacologia vols. 1- 15. J. Mar. Biol. Ass.
U.K. 59-71, and 72(1-3)
Enquiries
to: Dr David Reid or Dr John Taylor
Mollusca Research Group,
Department of Zoology,
The Natural History
Museum, London
SW7 5BD
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7942 5051. Fax:
+44 (0) 20 7942
5054 E-mail:
dgr...@nhm.ac.uk
Molluscan
Research Grants
The Malacological
Society of London Centenary Research Grants, up to £500,
are conferred referentially to students and researchers without professional
positions, regardless of nationality or membership. Application forms
available on The Societyís web-site: http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/MalacSoc.
The Conchological
Society of Great Britain and Ireland grants up to £1000 for
projects, preferentially on biogeography, ecology, taxonomy, conservation
or palaeontology. Membership is not necessary. Application form from
the Secretary. Email: secr...@conchsoc.org.
Unitas Malacologica
offers a research grant each year of 1000 Euro for expenses in
research. Membership not necessary, but nomination by a member is
required. Applications to UM secretary, Dr Peter Mordan.
Email: pbm...@nhm.ac.uk.
The American
Malacological Society awards up to 4 research grants up to $1000
for student members. Details at: http://coa.acnatsci.org/ams/students.html.
Conchologists
of America grants up to $1500 to qualified persons for field or
lab research. Awards are only made to citizens or permanent inhabitants
of the Americas or students in graduate school in the USA. Details
of how to apply at: http://data.acnatsci.org/conchnet/coagrant.html.
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