Important editorial note Frank Nolf Pr. Stefanieplein, 43/8 B-8400 Oostende, Belgium [email protected] After a period of twelve years of publishing papers and carrying out the difficult and troublesome task being the responsible editor of ‘Neptunea’, I now feel some reflections on the past and the future are needed. The section ‘Coast’ of the Belgian Society for Conchology originally thought there was an urgent necessity to establish a full-colour, A4-sized magazine for the Belgian shell collector in Dutch at an affordable price. The plan was to write papers with practical hints, book reviews, travel stories and possibly records of new species. From 2002 to 2005 papers were mainly published in Dutch (some papers have also been translated into French) but after receiving many positive reactions from foreign countries, initially from Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain, later on from the USA (several institutes are now a regular customer), the board of our society decided to use only English as a current language. This allowed us to increase the scientific character of the papers and to publish descriptions of new species. Although travel stories by Belgian globetrotters such as Jean-Etienne Ghyoot, Johan Moerman and Jacques Senders were fascinating, shell collectors on the other hand proved to be mainly interested in the identification of unknown shells and above all the description of new species. The series about ‘Deep-water molluscs in the Mozambique Channel’ was a real hit and we are at present still overwhelmed with inquiries for copies. Many interesting and new species were mentioned without formal descriptions. This was really the go-ahead to start publishing papers on new species. Although the first one – Bolma christianeae – later on proved to be only a form of Bolma jacquelineae, a considerable number of new species have been described in the past ten years, mainly by me or with Johan Verstraeten as the second author: Bolma madagascariensis (confirmed as valid after molecular study by the MNHN), Anacithara biscoitoi, Clavatula christianae, Clavatula congoensis, Clavatula delphinae, Clavatula hattenbergeri, Clavatula knudseni, Clavatula matthiasi, Clavatula nathaliae, Clavatula pseudomystica, Clavatula quinteni, Clavatula xanteni, Conus trencarti, Crassisipira pseudocarbonaria, Diodora canariensis, Distorsio globosa, Drillia annielonae, Drillia ghyooti, Drillia katiae, Glycymeris rafaelmesai, Nucula mariae, Phenacovolva patriciae, Pugilina dirki and many others by authors like Rolán, Horro and Fehse (CERITHIOPSIDAE, TRIVIIDAE, …). A keen observer will remark that most of these shells occur along West African coasts. The high frequency of publishing those new species within a time span of a few years was remarkable, but could be explained by our vigilant attitude during about 20-30 years until enough material and data could be gathered. Our project has never been subsidised by any person nor organisation at the local or federal level or by a substantial fund. There are no gains from advertisements and cooperation is a honorary task. Even the board of the Belgian Society for Conchology (headquarters at Antwerp) did not suggest any financial help and ‘Neptunea’ even became considered as a kind of an annoying antagonist. Neptunea, vol.13, n°1 1 October 2014 1 Of course nobody could understand how it was possible to issue a magazine of 30- 36 pages with at least three quarters of every issue featuring high quality colour plates at a low price. During the first eleven years a laser printer or an inkjet printer was used, but last year (2013) we finally made the switch to professional printing with stapled pages instead of the previous loose-leaf editions with a plastic binder as a result. The whole project was made possible by prudent financial management. There is no obligation for a yearly subscription and each issue can be separately obtained at the price of € 12 (unchanged for the past twelve years!). Like many other magazines, the editorial office of ‘Neptunea’ is suffering from a poor offer of papers to be published. Many authors and non-professional conchologists drop out for several reasons: passing away, illness, the fear of making the wrong decisions in describing a new species and countering the critical opinions of colleagues (?) or in revising known species or genera, lack of time or any other personal reason. In fact, our situation is still more acute. During the past few years the responsible editor became more and more a jack-of-all-trades: the different tasks such as writing and correcting papers, making thousands of photographs to edit with Photoshop, printing and organising the financial administration in particular, the sales management of the issues became really more than a normal person is able to carry. So, time has come to change the frequency of the edition of issues. ‘Neptunea’ will still be published in volumes but each volume will not cover one year but will contain four issues spread over an undetermined period. The quality of the papers will be improved as from now on we no longer accept photographs of bad quality (low resolution, unusual colours by using the wrong white balance). The number of approached referees will be increased and if necessary the price of the issues will be decreased. Moreover, we will offer PDF-versions of single papers published in sold-out issues free of charge on special demand. dr. sc. Frank Nolf Neptunea, vol.13, n°1 1 October 2014 2 In memory of Jean-Paul Kreps Frank Nolf Pr. Stefanieplein, 43/8 B-8400 Oostende, Belgium [email protected] J.-P. Kreps ° Knokke (Belgium) 17-02-1952 - † Knokke 11-04-2013 Last year J.-P. Kreps passed away at the age of collection to the RBINS (Royal Belgian Institute 61. He was above all an employee with the ACV for Natural Sciences (RBINS, Brussels, Belgium) (Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond – General a decade ago. However, less than ten years later Christian Labour Union). Thanks to his work he he managed to establish a new fantastic was able to contact many fishermen in collection of more than 2,000 different European Zeebrugge and Oostende (Belgium). Jean-Paul and NW African species. As he possessed an already became interested in collecting shells at enormous stock of shells from the North Sea, the a very early age. Nearly his whole life was English Channel, the Celtic Sea and especially dedicated to shell collecting with the aim to from the Bay of Biscay he was able to make gather a nearly complete collection of southern exchanges with foreign shell collectors mainly in North Sea shells and even all European shells in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Greece and general, although he knew quite well this was Italy. only a dream which could never be realised by Thirty years ago he became a member of the any amateur collector as many shells from Belgian Society for Conchology and the daughter deeper waters only belong to museum collections association in Bruges. We remember him as an as the result of dredgings by special expeditions. enthusiastic narrator of his trips to Denmark, the Nevertheless, Jean-Paul was very persistent and Netherlands and especially Brittany (France). He he tried to obtain rare shells from scientific was often blamed to lack an academic degree. institutes and museums by exchanges. He Indeed, he missed the real scientific knowhow to transferred - for an unknown reason - his publish his own papers but he was of Neptunea, vol.13, n°1 1 October 2014 3 indispensable help to Belgian and Spanish thoroughly been cleaned and the name labels authors treating European and especially North have been reviewed or adjusted based on the Atlantic molluscs due to his knowledge of the latest reviews in monographs and scientific habitat of many molluscs and his contacts with literature. The complete collection has been fishermen and local shell collectors in Brittany computerised in the Nolf-collection and marked (France). Many authors of scientific papers and with a ‘Kreps’-code. So, researchers or collectors monographs expressed their gratitude towards will be able to make use of the labels later on. Jean-Paul. The second collection contains more than 2,000 different sea shells from the NE Atlantic (from the After the screening of his first collection by Jan Barents Sea in the north to NW Africa in the Mees and Jan Haspeslagh (VLIZ)1 he was south) and from the Mediterranean Sea (from blamed to practice ‘a sort of carelessness’ in the Gibraltar in the west to Israel in the east). Each use of his labels of the shells brought up by species is represented by several samples from fishermen from Zeebrugge. Labels from these different localities. A large number of high quality shells proved to be incomplete in his shell cabinet specimens in each sample is present so as to but complete additional data were kept in the display the phenotypic variability of each locality stock. Fortunately, Jean-Paul had taken into supported with very detailed data. account the remarks of the screening people and later on he managed to keep the different We are thankful to Jean-Paul for bringing samples in separate bags. At present, the second together so much material from his own trips to collection of J.-P. Kreps, has found a resting Brittany and from fishermen trawling in the North place in the F. Nolf-collection in expectation of a Sea, the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay. We definitive place in a museum where it will be will always remember him as a dedicated shell accessible to other investigators. It is really collector who talked with great passion about his incredible that Jean-Paul managed to compile a hobby. new – and even larger and better - collection in less than ten years.