Mattheus Marinus Schepman


Mattheus Marinus Schepman was a Dutch malacologist. He was one of the foremost collectors of mollusc shells in the Netherlands, and was also high on the overall list of European collectors.
Dutch collectors developed an interest in natural history specimens that were collected on worldwide expeditions since the 16th century. An interest in conchology led to numerous shell publications. In 1934 the Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging was founded. In commemoration of its 75th anniversary, a book honoring in detail the work of Mattheus Schepman was published.

His research

Schepman was both a collector and a methodical scientist, which combination "made his collection of great value to the entire malacological community." He was given the opportunity to study a collection by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber, Director of the Zoölogisch Museum Amsterdam. Many of the specimens he studied and collected were gathered by the Siboga Expedition. The expedition went to the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago and investigated 322 sites.
Schepman's most significant work is reported in "The Prosobranchia of the Siboga expedition". HM Siboga was the transport ship for the eponymous "Siboga Expedition". Published over five years and consisting of 494 pages, it covers 212 genera and 1,467 species. Eduard von Martens was involved in mollusk identification from the first expedition, and he "probably recommended Schepman for the work on the second." In any event, Schepman published seven volumes which described 2,500 specimens, and 1,235 shelled mollusc species, "many new to science."
An important aspect of his work was his scientific collection of shells, a collection which was almost unprecedented in scope and breadth. Eventually sold in 1920 to the Zoological Museum Amsterdam for ƒ7,205, the collection consisted of 9,000 species and 1,250 genera of shelled freshwater, marine, and land molluscs.

Published works

Schepman wrote over 62 malacological works. They include:
The Prosobranchia of the Siboga Expedition
Schepman described and named a large number of taxa of molluscs, mostly species, especially species of marine gastropods. For example, in November 2012, the World Register of Marine Species listed 182 valid marine taxa that were described by Schepman.
Schepman originally described about 450 taxa, including many turrids. Examples of the numerous taxa he named and described are in the following list :

Families

Freshwater and marine cave snails:
s :
s:
Land slugs:
Freshwater snails:
Freshwater bivalves:
Sea snails :
, described and named by Schepman in 1879
1870s and 1890s
1903
1904
1907
1908
1909
, described and named by Schepman in 1909. Head end towards the top of the image; the red mantle is covering the shell entirely.
1911
1913
1914
1922
Taxa named in his honor include :
Marine snails:
Bivalves: