A STUDY OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN CYPRAEACEAN AND VELUTINACEAN GASTROPOD FAUNA.

FOREWORD

The cold temperate and warm tropical waters of southern Africa support a wealth of marine life that rivals the terrestrial biota in its spectacular diversity. Molluscs are a major component of these faunas. The southern African molluscan fauna is renowned for its many endemic taxa and adaptive radiations of such groups as the Haliotidae, Patellidae, Trividae, Cypracidae, Nassaridae, Olividae, Volutidae, Conidae, Marginellidae and Sepiidae. Several of these groups, such as the Patellidae, Branch 1981, are well known systematically and biologically, whereas others, such as the Marginellidae, are relatively poorly known.

Though the southern African molluscan fauna has been studied since the latter half of the eighteenth century, much of the systematics of these taxa remains unresolved. Early workers, such as Bmelin, Gray, Swainson, the Sowerbys, Krauss and E.A. Smith, Tomlin and Bartsch completed most of their works on southern African molluscs in the early twentieth century. A new era began with Turton and Barnard, who as the first resident malacologists, published a great deal on the southern African molluscan fauna. Most recently, Kilburn and Herbert, also resident malacolgists, have added much to the knowledge of the fauna. ….

With the advent of scuba diving as a significant research tool, it has been possible to remedy much of this neglect. Bill Liltved has pioneered this new approach to malacology in southern African molluscs. His enthusiasm and dedication to finding living representatives of southern African molluscs has revolutionized our understanding of the fauna. Species that are rare as beach shells are now known to be common constituents of subtidal marine communities, just below the low tide mark. Other species remain rare at the lower limit of scuba diving depths.