Marine Mollusks of Bermuda
Checklist & Bibliography
by Russell H. Jensen & Timothy A. Pearce
2009, Delaware Museum of Natural History, glossy paper covers, perfect binding, about 8¼ by 10¾ inches (about 21 by 27.5cm) 473 pages including 16 full page color plates.
This book was a long time in the making and although it is a shame that Russ Jensen passed away before the work was completed we have the feeling that he, perhaps more than anyone else, would be delighted to see this book finally come into being under the guidance of Dr. Tim Pierce and under the aegis of the Delaware Museum. Of course too without the selfless dedication of Jack Lightbourn, Arthur Guest and Russ this book would have little to offer. First and foremost it is a checklist and a careful annotation to the appearance in the literature of the hundreds of marine mollusks found in Bermudian waters. The appearance of 109 species of mollusks not previously reported from Bermuda and the 67 species of mollusks found only in Bermuda are well documented in this book. The bibliographic section too is very thorough and a very complete listing of references in the literature to the species in the check list. Needless to say it took a formidable amount of research and hard work to make this book the marvelous resource that it is. There is an interesting chart that traces the number of marine shells known from Bermuda over the course of years from about the year 1850 to 2000. The number of species reported begins at about 40, in 1960 that number increase to about 500 species and in 2000 the number nearly double to reach almost 1000.
Anyone who continues to research further into this study now has a great tool at their disposal and all of us owe a great deal of thanks to the authors and the collectors who made this book a reality.
