World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

Predatory beetles may be seen as the driving force causing a 'wave of advance' here. They may use
the bypass-canal to reach the snail's body and eat it, so that its closure is advantageous for these
snails.
In an attempt to falsify the hypothesis that transspecific introgression is the phenomenon underlying
the observed facts, it is investigated whether (1) there are such predators in the area, (2) the genetic
basis causing either an open or a closed canal could be relatively simple, (3) the distributional pattern
is in accordance with such a process, and (4) the actual molecular phylogeny reconstruction is in
conflict with a classification using a closed bypass-canal as an autapomorphy.
Molluscs as models in evolutionary biology: from local speciation to global radiation -
Introduction to the symposium
Glaubrecht, Matthias; von Rintelen, Thomas
Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin,
Germany,
Email: matthias.glaubrecht@museum.hu-berlin.de
Evolutionary biology is not only a biological subdiscipline but provides the foundation stone for
biology in general. However, to date two of the least understood phenomena in evolutionary biology
are the diversity of biological organisms, or biodiversity, which is far from being discovered, and its
causation (i.e. the evolutionary processes leading to it). Surprisingly, decades after the “Modern
Synthesis” as the most comprehensive scientific achievement in this field and centuries after the
commencement of research in biological systematics, we are still unable to satisfyingly answer
apparently simple questions such as, for example, (i) how many species inhabit the earth today, (ii)
how did this diversity originate, and (iii) how is this diversity distributed. While many contributions
in malacology center around morphology, anatomy, and recently in particular phylogenetic
relationships within and among its constituent taxa, rarely molluscs have been utilized explicitly as
models for the study of general aspects in evolutionary biology. However, we feel that also this
particular group with its many features and facettes is highly suitable for providing some fundamental
insights into the mechanisms of the genesis of biodiversity, historical biogeography and the
underlying processes of speciation and radiation. Thus, it is the aim of this symposium to bring
together experts and their expertise based on molluscs to provide some of those fundamental studies
and data that are of relevance for evolutionary biology with aspects as outlined above, in order to
facilitate the influence of malacology within evolutionary biology.
Evolving with friendly bacteria: global diversity of lucinid bivalves reviewed
Glover, Emily A.; Taylor, John D.
Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK,
Email: emily.glover@dial.pipex.com
Since the discovery of chemosymbiosis in the 1980’s attention has focused on several previously
neglected bivalve families such as Solemyidae, Vesicomyidae, Thyasiridae and Lucinidae, in
particular examining coevolutionary relationships between bacteria and bivalve. Interest in
chemosymbiosis has also catalysed systematic studies, with 67 new species and 27 genera of
Lucinidae described in the last twenty years, a level of activity unrivalled since the mid 19C. For the
same period and, by contrast, descriptions of Veneridae have continued at a low background level. Of
the bivalve families with chemosymbiotic bacteria, Lucinidae is by far the most diverse (near 400
species), with a near global distribution and occupying a wide range of habitats, from the intertidal
zone to depths around 2500 metres. The richest lucinid faunas, from Indo-West Pacific, have only
recently been recorded, resulting from intensive sampling of coral-reef systems of the Philippines and
New Caledonia. In the latter case 53% of the species were new. Continued sampling of tropical
offshore shelf, slope and bathyal habitats is also yielding unsuspected diverse lucinid faunas, many
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