Christoffer Schander

Carl Fredrik Christoffer Schander (21 May 1960 – 21 February 2012) was a professor in marine biology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He was also a thematic leader at the Centre of Excellence in Geobiology. His doctoral thesis (1997), from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, treated the evolutionary relationships of the parasitic marine gastropod family Pyramidellidae. He worked on marine invertebrates, mainly molluscs, and has published more than 90 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, whereof 76 are indexed in Web of Knowledge. Fourteen of them have been cited ten times or more.

According to his web page, the goal of his research was to understand the role that evolutionary forces and phylogeny have played in creating organismal diversity. To develop this understanding, he used phylogenetic analyses that integrated morphological, ultrastructural and molecular data. His research focused on the molluscs, because of the amazing morphological diversity of recent taxa, and because of their fossil record dating back to the Precambrian. More specifically, his research focused on the ectoparasitic pyramidellid gastropods and the, shell-less, primary deep-sea aplacophorans. He was also interested in the biogeography of these animals, and were also studying the relationship between the molluscs and other animal groups, and the population genetics of several organisms.

In addition to taxonomy and systematics, he also published several papers on the use of formalin fixed tissue for molecular studies. He was also active in the DNA barcoding community.

The World Register of Marine Species mentions 33 new gastropod species named by Schander

Personal life

Schander was born in Sweden in 1960. Based in his home town of Borås, he became one of the most active Swedish science fiction fans in the 1980s, creating fanzines such as Semikolon A & B and I väntan på PEP and the APA Efterapa, and arranging science fiction conventions such as RegnCon in 1981. He died after a short illness on 21 February 2012.

Partial bibliography

• Schander C. (1993). "Bathyarca grenophia (Mollusca, Bivalvia) utilises Astrorhitza arenaria and Rhabdammina abyssorum (Foraminifera) as hard substrate on ooze bottoms". Fauna Norvegica 14(3): 61-62.
• Warén A., Gofas S. & Schander C. (1993). "Systematic position of three European heterobranch Gastropods". Veliger 36(1): 1-15.
• Nofroni I. & Schander C. (1994). "Description of three new species of Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) from West Africa". Notiziario CISMA 15(1): 1-10.
• Schander C. (1994). "Twenty-eight new species of Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) from West Africa". Notiziario CISMA 15(1): 11-76.
• Schander C. (1995). "Pyramidellidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) of the Faroe Islands". Sarsia 80: 55-65.
• Lundberg, J., Schander C. & Stokland Ø. (1996). "A preliminary cladistic analysis of North Atlantic Oenopota Moerch, 1852 and Propebela Iredale, 1918 (Gastropoda, Conoidea)". Journal of Molluscan Studies 62: 289-298.
• Schander C. (1997). "Turbonilla angelinagagiliniae, new name for Turbonilla scrobiculata Schander, 1994 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Pyramidellidae)". Bolletino Malacologico 13: 45-46.
• Schander C. (1998). "Types, emendations and names - a reply to Lidén et al." Taxon 47: 401-406
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External links

• Christoffer Schander
• "Direktør ved Universitetsmuseet Christoffer Schander er død" Universitetsmuseet i Bergen website; 21 February 2012
• The aplacophora homepage