This is a list of malacologists, scientists who study mollusks, such as snails, clams, cephalopods, and others, in a discipline named malacology. People who specialize in studying only or primarily the shells of mollusks are sometimes called conchologists instead of malacologists. Many of these malacologists are notable for having named species and other taxa of mollusks.
This list focuses primarily on people who study or studied recent taxa of mollusks rather than fossil mollusks, so only a few paleontologists are included here. The list also includes researchers who devoted some of their research effort to malacology and some to other sciences.
Considering that mollusks are such a very large and diverse phylum of invertebrates, malacology in general is greatly understaffed in its research efforts. For example, there is no living malacological expert who can properly identify all the species of Onchidiidae (about 143 species).Dayrat B. (2009) "Review of the current knowledge of the systematics of Onchidiidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pulmonata) with a checklist of nominal species". Zootaxa 2068: 1–26. preview. There are also not enough malacologists studying freshwater snails.Strong E. E., Gargominy O., Ponder W. F. & Bouchet P. (2008). "Global Diversity of Gastropods (Gastropoda; Mollusca) in Freshwater". Hydrobiologia 595: 149–166. .
A Donald Putnam Abbott (1920–1986) United States R. Tucker Abbott (1919–1995) United States William Adam (1909–1988) Belgium Arthur Adams (1820–1878) United Kingdom (brother of Henry Adams) Charles Baker Adams (1814–1853) United States Henry Adams (1813–1877) United Kingdom (brother of Arthur Adams) Johann Christian Albers (1795–1857) Germany Joshua Alder (1792–1867) United Kingdom Frederick Aldrich (1927–1991) United States Truman Heminway Aldrich (1848–1932) United States, civil engineer and paleontologist César Marie Félix Ancey (1860–1906) France George French Angas (1822–1886) United Kingdom John Gould Anthony (1804-1877) United States Hermann Eduard Anton (1794–1872) Germany Allan Frost Archer (1908-1994) United States Edwin Ashby (1861–1941) Australia, expert in chitonsWinckworth R. (1942). "Obituary. Edwin Ashby, 1861-1941". Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 25(1): 2–4. PDF. Jean Victoire Audouin (1797–1841) France
B Kikutaro Baba (1905–2001) Japan Fred Baker (1854–1938) United States Horace Burrington Baker (1889–1971), American malacologist David Dwight Baldwin (1831–1912),Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2009). 2,400 years of malacology, 6th ed. , 830 pp. & 32 pp. [Annex of Collations]. American Malacological Society. Hawaii, United StatesA. Studied land snails of Hawaii.Anonymous (1912) "David Dwight Baldwin". The Nautilus 26(7): 82-83. Keppel Harcourt Barnard (1887–1964) South Africa Paul Bartsch (1871–1960) American malacologist and carcinologist of German origin Frederick Bayer (1921–2007) United States Arthur René Jean Baptiste Bavay (1840–1923) France Richard Henry Beddome (1830–1911) England Henrik Henriksen Beck (1799–1863) Denmark Luigi Bellardi (1818–1889) Italy William Henry Benson (1803–1870), malacologist "United Kingdom/India/South Africa" Joseph Charles Bequaert (1886–1982) Belgium, United States David J Berg United States Leszek Berger (1925–2012) Poland Rudolph Bergh (1824–1909) Denmark Samuel Stillman Berry (1887-1984) Rüdiger Bieler (born 1955) Amos Binney (1803–1847) United States William G. Binney (1833–1909) United States Caroline Birley (1851–1907) England Hope Black (1919–2018) Australia Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777–1850) France Willis Blatchley (1859–1940) United States Caesar Rudolf Boettger (1888–1976) Germany Oskar Boettger (1844–1910) Germany Mia Boissevain (1878–1959) Netherlands Ignaz von Born (1742–1791) Austria Filippo Bonanni (1638–1723) Italy Kristine Elisabeth Heuch Bonnevie (1872–1948) biologist and Norway's first female professor Nicolas Robert Bouchard-Chantereaux (1802–1864) France Philippe Bouchet (1953–) France Jules René Bourguignat (1829–1892) France Thomas Edward Bowdich (1791–1824) England John William Brazier (1842–1930) Australia William Broderip (1789–1859) England Captain Thomas Brown (1785–1862) United Kingdom Adolph Cornelis van Bruggen (A. C. van Bruggen, Dolf van Bruggen) (1929–2016) Netherlands and South Africa Jean Guillaume Bruguière (1749–1798) France Spiridon Brusina (1845–1909) Croatia Rykel de Bruyne Netherlands James Bulwer (1794–1879) England John B. Burch (1929–) United States Robert Burn (1937–) Australia
C Frédéric Cailliaud (1787–1869) France Alfred de Candie de Saint-Simon (1731–1851) Toulouse, France. Philip Pearsall Carpenter (1819–1877) England Thomas Frederic Cheeseman (1845–1923) New Zealand Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz (1730–1800) Germany Jean-Charles Chenu (1808–1879) France Carl Chun (1852–1914) Germany George Hubbard Clapp (1858–1949) United States William J. Clench (1897–1984) United States Stefan Clessin (1833–1911) Germany Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (1866–1948) United States Walter Edward Collinge (1867–1947) United Kingdom Matthew William Kemble Connolly (1872–1947) United Kingdom and South Africa Timothy Abbott Conrad (1803-1877) United States Charles Montague Cooke, Jr. (1874–1948) Hawaii William Cooper (1798–1864) United States Alexandre Édouard Maurice Cossmann (1850–1924) France Bernard Charles Cotton (1905-1966) Australia James Hamilton Couper (1794–1866) United States Joseph Pitty Couthouy (1808–1864) United States Georges Coutagne (1854–1928) France James Charles Cox [M.D.] (1834–1912) Australia Leslie Reginald Cox (1897–1965) United Kingdom Percy Zachariah Cox [Major General, Sir] (1864–1937) United Kingdom and Iran Henry Crampton (1875–1956) United States Joseph Charles Hippolyte Crosse (1826–1898) France Cyril Crossland (1878–1943) England Hugh Cuming (1791–1865) England Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) France
D Dezallier d'Argenville (1680–1765) France Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717–1791) England William Healey Dall (1845–1927) United States Philippe Dautzenberg (1849–1935) Belgian Léopold de Folin (1817–1896) France Jacques Louis Marin DeFrance (1758–1850) France Pierre Denys de Montfort (1766–1820) France Richard Dell (1920–2002) New Zealand Gérard Paul Deshayes (1795–1875) France Charles des Moulins (1798–1875) France Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778–1855) United Kingdom Heinrich Wolfgang Ludwig Dohrn (1838–1913) Germany, also entomologist Edward Donovan (1768–1837) Ireland Alcide d'Orbigny (1802–1857) France Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud (1772–1804) France Wilhelm Dunker (1809–1885) Germany
E Charles Eliot, full name: Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot (1862–1931) Arthur Erskine Ellis (1902–1983) United Kingdom William Keith Emerson (1925–2016) United States Bob Entrop (1917–1987) Netherlands
F Paul Fagot (1842–1908) French malacologist Jules Favre (1882–1959) Switzerland James Ferriss (1849–1926) United States André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac (1786–1836) France, also a naturalist Henri Filhol (1843–1902) France Harold John Finlay (1901–1951) New Zealand palaeontologist and conchologist Julian K. Finn (1970s–) Australia Paul Henri Fischer (1835 – 1893) France John Fleming (1785–1857) Scotland Léopold de Folin (1817–1896) France Charles-François Fontannes (1839–1886) France Edward Forbes (1815–1845) United Kingdom Lothar H.E.W. Forcart (1902–1990) Switzerland André Franc (1911–1990s) France
G Charles John Gabriel (1879–1963) Australia Joseph Paul Gaimard (1796–1858) France Andrew Garrett (1823–1887) United States Louis Germain (1878–1942) France David Geyer (1855–1932) Germany Theodore Gill (1837–1914) United States Gonzalo Giribet (1970–) Spain. United States Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748–1804) Germany Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834–1923) United Kingdom, British India Augustus Addison Gould (1805–1866) United States Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) United States, paleontologist who also studied land snails. Alastair Graham (1906–2000) United Kingdom Jean-Pierre Sylvestre de Grateloup (1782–1862) France Edward Whitaker Gray (1748–1806) United Kingdom Elizabeth Gray (1831–1924) United Kingdom Francis Calley Gray (1790–1856) United States John Edward Gray (1800–1875) United Kingdom Maria Emma Gray (1787–1876) United Kingdom, wife of John Edward Gray Russell Gray (died 1948) United States Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828) United Kingdom Georg Grimpe (1889–1936) Germany Karl Grobben (1854–1945) Austria Simon James Grove Australia, malacologist & entomologist Niccolò Gualtieri (1688–1744) Italy Gerard Pierre Laurent Kalshoven Gude (1858–1924) United Kingdom John Thomas Gulick (1832–1923) Hawaii, developed evolution theories with Charles Darwin Robert John Lechmere Guppy (1836–1916) Trinidad.
H Fritz Haas (1886–1969) Germany Georg Haas (1905–1981) Israel Samuel Stehman Haldeman (1812–1880) United States Sylvanus Charles Thorp Hanley (1819–1899) United Kingdom Elizabeth Harper (1965–) United Kingdom Johan Conrad van Hasselt (1797–1823) vertebratologist, he also studied mollusks from Java Gerhard Haszprunar (1957–) Austria Bernhard Hausdorf, Germany William H. Heard (1935–) United States Charles Hedley (1862–1926) United Kingdom, but mostly active in Australia Friedrich Held (1812–1872) Germany Joseph Heller (1941–) Israel Henry Hemphill (1830–1914) United States John Brooks Henderson Jr. (1870–1923) United States Junius Henderson (1865–1937) United States Leo George Hertlein (1898–1972) United States Pierre Marie Heude (1836–1902) France Joaquín González Hidalgo y Rodríguez (1839–1923), Spain Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811–1846) United Kingdom Shintarō Hirase (1884–1939) Japan Yoichirō Hirase (1859–1925) Japan, father of Shintarō Hirase Frederick George "Eric" Hochberg (1941–2023), United States Hans Hoffmann (1896-1947) Germany William Evans Hoyle (1855–1926) United Kingdom Thomas George Bond Howes (1853–1905) United Kingdom Leslie Hubricht (1908–2005) United States George Humphrey (1739–1826) United Kingdom Christian Hee Hwass (1731–1803) Denmark
I Tom Iredale (1880–1972) England Arturo Issel (1842–1922) Italy
J John Clarkson Jay (1808–1891) American amateur conchologist. John Gwyn Jeffreys (1809–1885) United Kingdom Charles Willison Johnson (1863–1932) American naturalist and malacologist George Johnston (1797–1855) British malacologist Israel Heymann Jonas (1795–1851) German malacologist Jess Jones United States Louis Joubin (1861–1935) France Félix Pierre Jousseaume (1835–1921) France
K Sally Diana Kaicher (1922–1999) United States, Author and Illustrator: Card Catalogue of Worldwide Shells, 1973-1992Rosenberg, Gary & Petit, Richard. (2003). Kaicher’s Card Catalogue of World-Wide Shells: A collation, with discussion of species named therein. Nautilus -Greenville then Sanibel-. 117. 99-120. E. Alison Kay (1928–2008) United States Myra Keen (1905–1986) United States Louis Charles Kiener (1799–1891) France Richard Kilburn (1942–2013) South Africa Thomas William Kirk (1856–1936) New Zealand Jared Potter Kirtland (1793–1877) United States Wilhelm Kobelt (1840–1916) Germany Yoshio Kondo (1910–1990) Hawaii Dieter Korn (1958–) Germany Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss (1812–1890) Germany Endre Krolopp (1935–2010) Hungary, interested in Quaternary and Tertiary molluscs Fûköh L. (2010). "In memoriam Dr. Krolopp Endre (1935–2010)". Malacological Newsletter 28: 5–19. PDF. Tokubei Kuroda (1886–1987) Japan Heinrich Carl Küster (1807–1876) Germany
L Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers (1821–1901) France Frank Fortescue Laidlaw (1876–1963) United Kingdom Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829) France Charles Francis Laseron (1887–1959) United States, Australia Isaac Lea (1792–1886) United States José H. Leal Brazil Henning Mourier Lemche (1904–1977) Denmark Andrzej Lesicki (1950–)Poland Michele Lessona (1823–1894) Italy Mario Lessona (1855–1911) Italy John Lightfoot (1735–1788) United Kingdom David R. Lindberg (born 1948) United States Vasiliy Lindholm (1874–1935) Russia