Marine molluscs. Part 1. Amphineura, archaeogastropoda & pulmonata

• Main Authors: Walsby, J, Ballantine, W.J, Morton, J, Willen, R.C
• Format: Publication
• Language: English
• Published: University of Auckland Marine Laboratory 1982
• Subjects: 270000 Biological Sciences; 270700 Ecology and Evolution; 270702 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology); Fields of Research; Mollusks New Zealand Leigh

The creation of New Zealand's first marine reserve, between Cape Rodney andOkakari Point, on the eastern coast of Northland, near Leigh, has been a stimulusto review and collate all of the known information on a number of animal groups.The marine molluscs constitute a large group which will be covered in 4 volumes.In this, the first volume, the more primitive molluscs, nearly all grazers, areconsidered. These are the Amphineura (chitons), the Archaeogastropoda (limpets,topshells, turbanshells, nerites and allies), and the marine Pulmonata (3 limpets,the small earshells, Amphibola the mud snail, and a strangely isolated pulmonateslug, Onahidella).Shells have long captivated man's interest with their beauty of form anddecoration and have been the subject of many books and countless illustrations.Even for New Zealand shells there are a good number of books ranging from pocketguides to the common shells, through to the complete manuals of Suter (1913) andPowell (1979). Few countries can be so fortunate as to have such a modern accountas A.W.B. Powell's "New Zealand Mollusca", in which we are given a complete list,with descriptions and illustrations of our marine, land and freshwater molluscs.The generation after Suter's, extending well into modern time, was marked byintensified discovery and new description, with a proliferation of local genericnames. Today there has been a return to a healthier balance, with the recognitionthat exclusive neozelanic, generic names can obscure a wide comparability which isso useful in community ecology and comparative morphology. Powell's "New ZealandMollusca" emphasised this corrective trend and its revised nomenclature is notlikely to become substantially out of date during this century. New records arecertain to appear, however, both by discovery, aided in particular by the use ofSCUBA studies, and also by immigration. Much bigger and faster ships and periodicinternational movement of giant oil-drilling rigs, have given new opportunitiesfor the dispersal of marine species across the oceans.It was only by the appearance of Powell's great general work, that smallerbooks of more limited aim, and-specialised purpose, could be encouraged or becomefeasible to produce. "New Zealand Mollusca ll is based mainly on characters of theshells of the entire New Zealand molluscan fauna. In matters of taxonomy, ourlocal series will follow it throughout, diverging only in a few well-advisedinstances, largely in higher group classification, where malacological andevolutionary study has proved informative.