Other Molluscs (Chitons and Scaphopods)
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Glasgow Museums’ collection of chitons, scaphopods and aplacophorans contains 510 lots of dried specimens and 50 specimens in spirit. They date from 1878 to 2005.
There is a good collection of local species and a wide range of species from around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Chile, the United States, India, South Africa, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean.
The main collections within this group belonged to Alfred Brown (c.1840-1902) Thomas Gray (1820 - 1910), Robert P. Scase (1914-1993), Alexander Somerville (1843-1907), and S. Peter Dance (1932-present). The single aplacophoran specimen, in spirit, was collected from Scottish waters in the 1980s.
There are collectors’ diaries in this collection.
About chitons, scaphopods and aplacophorans
Chitons have a shell made up of eight plates, which are joined together by a tough leathery skirt. They are usually found attached to rocks in a marine environment. They are one of the smaller molluscan classes, with around 650-800 species. Scaphopod, or ‘tusk shell’, molluscs look like very tiny elephant tusks. They are only found in a marine environment and there are around 600 species. Aplacophorans are small deep-sea molluscs without shells, and there are only about 320 species. - Broader term
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