POLISH MALACOLOGY – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE BEATA M. POKRYSZKO1 &ADOLF RIEDEL2 1Museum of Natural History, Wroc³aw University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroc³aw, Poland (e-mail: [email protected]) 2Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warszawa, Poland ABSTRACT: The Polish malacology was born over 125 years ago. In the 19th century there were two malacological centres: Cracow-Lwów and Warsaw. In the former, faunistic malacology developed intensely in 1870–1890. The studies in Warsaw, started roughly at the same time, focused on studying malacofauna of the Polish Kingdom and on systematic research worldwide; the first worldwide shell collection in Poland was founded there. The most important achievements of the pre-war Polish malacology are: discovery and descrip- tion of the malacofauna of the lake Baikal (B. DYBOWSKI &W.DYBOWSKI); monographs of tropical Helicinidae and Palaearctic Clausiliidae, application of anatomical characters to lower-level taxonomy (A. WAGNER); studies on endemic malacofauna of the Ohrida lake (W. POLIÑSKI). At present the main malacological centres in terms of the number of malacologists and/or collections are: Warsaw, Wroc³aw, Cra- cow, Poznañ, £ódz and Katowice. The studies focus mainly on systematics, phylogeny, zoogeography and life cycles of land snails, ecology of aquatic molluscs and malacocenoses, systematics and phylogeny of aquatic prosobranchs and bivalves, Tertiary and Quaternary molluscs. Important mollusc collections are kept at the Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS (Warsaw), Museum of Natural History, Wroc³aw University, Institute of Animal Systematics and Evolution PAS (Cracow) and at the Museum of Zoology, Jagiellonian University. Polish Malacological Seminars have been organized each year since 1985. Folia Malacologica, the only malacological journal in Poland, was founded in 1987; it appeared in 1987–1994, and recently (1998) has been resurrected after a long break. The Association of Polish Malacologists was established in 1995, and in 1996 started pub- lishing a newsletter. In spite of financial difficulties of scientific institutions and employment problems, the number of active, professional malacologists is not decreasing. KEY WORDS: Poland, malacology, history INTRODUCTION This article was originally intended only as a lec- The Association of Polish Malacologists was ture presented during the 15th Polish Malacological founded as late as 1995, but prior to that date our Seminar – since it was the 15th anniversary of the first malacology had had an over 125-year tradition. In the malacological meeting in Poland, the Association of 19th century there existed two malacological centres: Polish Malacologists decided to celebrate (which it Cracow-Lwów and Warsaw. Paradoxically, the Polish did: for the report and abstracts see this volume: malacology kept on existing even at the time when 261–274). The Seminar required a breath of history, there was no Poland on the map of Europe! Between and someone had to provide it. Two people were cho- World Wars I and II, these two main centres were sen for this task: the Junior Author who is the only joined by Poznañ, where malacology had then only member of the Association actively interested in his- started to develop. After World War II, many other tory, and the Senior Author who had attended all the centres and institutions could be added to these previous Seminars and still remembered most of re- three, and later still the Association of Polish cent malacological events. Malacologists was founded. Since history is easier to discuss when divided into periods, we will call the pe- 276 Pokryszko B. M., Riedel A. riod from the 19th century till the end of World War wards, because the First Polish Malacological Seminar II the pre-war history of the Polish malacology. The took place in 1985; this brief but eventful phase will time between the end of World War II and the present be referred to as history of the Association of Polish will be discussed under the post-war history – general Malacologists. outline. Within the post-war period most attention will be paid to the most recent time – from 1985 on- PRE-WAR HISTORY ¯EGOTA IGNACY KRÓL (1846–1881), who pub- lished several papers on molluscs of eastern and cen- tral Galicia; BOLES£AW KOTULA (1849–1898), who published two papers: on molluscs of the region of Przemyœl and on the vertical distribution of molluscs in the Tatra Mts (the latter paper quite up to modern standards) (Figs 2, 4); Fig. 1. Malacological centres on a map of Poland between World Wars I and II CRACOW-LWÓW In the Cracow-Lwów centre (Fig. 1) in 1870–1890 faunistic malacology developed and thrived, thanks to a group of scientists gathered around M. SI£A-NOWICKI and the Physiographic Commission. Due to B. KOTULA and J. B¥KOWSKI the former Galicia1 became one of the malacologically best studied areas in Europe. A monograph of molluscs of Galicia and partly other ar- eas of Poland, prepared but not finished by J. B¥KOWSKI, and later completed and edited by M. A. £OMNICKI, was published in 1892 in Lwów. The following malacologists worked in Cracow Fig. 2. BOLES£AW KOTULA, 1849–1898 and/or Lwów: STEFAN STOBIECKI (1859–1944), who studied, JAN JACHNO (1840–1895), who dealt mainly with among others, molluscs of the mountain Babia Góra molluscs of western Galicia and published a paper on (Beskidy Mts); the subject; 1 The name Galicia is usually associated with a province in Spain, but the first meaning in WEBSTER‘s Dictionary is “a former crown land of Austria, included in S Poland after World War I“ (and now partly in Ukraine). Polish malacology – past, present and future 277 Fig. 3. Cover (left) and title page (right) of B¥KOWSKI &£OMNICKI’s (1892) monograph of molluscs of Galicia, with hand- written dedication from ST.FELIKSIAK to A. RIEDEL.A.RIEDEL‘s library ANTONI WIERZEJSKI (1843–1916), who collected Prince W£ADYS£AW LUBOMIRSKI (1824–1882), who molluscs and gave them to colleagues-malacologists; collected mollusc shells from all over the world and JÓZEF B¥KOWSKI (1848–1887), who was a specialist established the first worldwide collection in Poland in the Polish malacofauna and published 12 papers, (ca. 8,000 species) (Figs 5, 6, 11); mainly on eastern Galicia, and a comprehensive ac- ANTONI ŒLÓSARSKI (1843–1897), who wrote 7 pa- count of molluscs of Galicia (Figs 3, 4). pers on molluscs of the Polish Kingdom; ANTONI JÓZEF WAGNER (1860–1928), who worked WARSAW in Warsaw only during the last 10 years of his life and published monographs of Helicinidae and Clausiliidae Studies that started more or less at the same time as well as studies on Balkan molluscs, and was the first in Warsaw initially concentrated on the malacofauna to apply anatomical characters to lower-level taxonomy of the Polish Kingdom (A. ŒLÓSARSKI, publications of (Figs 7, 8, 11); 1872–1883), but the research there was much less in- W£ADYS£AW KAROL ALEKSANDER POLIÑSKI tense and at a lower level, compared to that in Cra- (1885–1930), who collected and studied molluscs of C cow; it extended to systematics, ecology and zooge- and NE Poland; he published also taxonomic papers ography and gained intensity only in the 20th century, on the helicids of Poland, on some groups of Alpine after World War I, and since that time it has con- and Carpathian helicids, American clausiliids and tinued, being only briefly interrupted by World War molluscs of the Ohrida lake (Figs 9–11); II. Outstanding malacologists active in Warsaw after WAC£AW ANDRZEJ TADEUSZ ROSZKOWSKI World War I were A. WAGNER and W. POLIÑSKI. The (1886–1944), who dealt with lymnaeids on a wide geo- first Polish collection of worldwide mollusc shells (W. graphic scale, but produced no comprehensive paper; LUBOMIRSKI) was established in Warsaw. It was the ANTONI JANKOWSKI (1874–1945), who was an ama- only centre where malacological studies have con- teur-collector, associated with the Warsaw Museum; his tinued since the 1870s (A. ŒLÓSARSKI) till present, main publication is a paper on molluscs of Warsaw; and almost from the beginning their scope went be- STANIS£AW FELIKSIAK (1906–1992), who wrote a yond the native fauna. paper on molluscs of the filter plant in Warsaw and of The main characters of this centre were: 278 Pokryszko B. M., Riedel A. Fig. 4. Handwritten labels from KOTULA‘s (left) and B¥KOWSKI‘s (right) collections. Small labels below large labels written by W. KULCZYÑSKI; specimens kept at present at the Institute of Animal Systematics and Evolution, Polish Academy of Sciences Polish malacology – past, present and future 279 Fig. 5. Prince W£ADYS£AW LUBOMIRSKI, 1824–1882 Fig. 6. A plate from LUBOMIRSKI‘s “Notice sur quelques co- quilles du Perou”, Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London, 1879 the Bison Reserve in Bia³owie¿a, small notes on aquatic molluscs and a treatise on Myxas glutinosa. POZNAÑ Of the three pre-war malacological centres it was the latest to develop. Under Prussian occupation only one malacologist was active there. After World War I Poznañ had two, and soon before World War II, three malacologists who studied mainly the malacofauna of Wielkopolska, partly NE Poland, Polesie and the Pieniny Mts. The pre-war Poznañ malacologists were: FELICJAN SYPNIEWSKI (1822–1877), who assembled, among others, a collection of molluscs of Wielkopolska; MARIA M£ODZIANOWSKA-DYRDOWSKA (1885– 1931) who studied the malacofauna of Wielkopolska; she published two papers on it and one on molluscs of Fig. 7. ANTONI JÓZEF WAGNER, 1860–1928 the region of Wilno; 280 Pokryszko B. M., Riesel A. Fig. 8. Cover of WAGNER‘s (1915) monograph of stylommatophorans of the Balkan countries, with WAGNER‘s inscription and signature (right), FELIKSIAK‘s (top) and RIEDEL‘s (left) notes.