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). There are also not enough malacologists studying freshwater snails.
A
Donald Putnam Abbott (1920–1986) United States
R. Tucker Abbott (1919–1995) United States
William Adam (1909–1988) Belgium
Arthur Adams (1820–1878) Great Britain (brother of Henry Adams) Charles Baker Adams (1814–1853) United States Henry Adams (1813–1877) Great Britain (brother of Arthur Adams) Johann Christian Albers (1795–1857) Germany Joshua Alder (1792–1867) Great Britain 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) Great Britain 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 chitons 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), Hawaii, United StatesA. Studied land snails of Hawaii. 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 "Great Britain/India/South Africa" Joseph Charles Bequaert (1886–1982) Belgium, 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) Great Britain 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