Welcome to the XXII WCM

Welcome to the XXII WCM


The World Congress of Malacology will be hosted by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, from August 4th to 8th, 2025.

WCM2025 follows its direct predecessors in Munich (Germany 2022), Asilomar (California 2019), Penang (Malaysia 2016), and at the Azores (Portugal 2013), and many others dating back to 1962. The congress will be organised on behalf of UNITAS Malacologica by a team of malacologists from Brazilian research institutes and universities (Butantan Institute, UERJ, UFSCAR, UNICAMP, UNIRIO, USP, UFSCPA, and UNaM) under the leadership of the president of UNITAS Malacologica, Dr. Lenita de Freitas Tallarico. In partnership with SBMa (Brazilian Society of Malacology, president Eliane Pintor de Arruda) and AMS (American Malacological Society, president Jingchun Li), and with the support of the SEM (Spanish Society of Malacology), ASAM (Argentine Association of Malacology), SMU (Malacological Society of Uruguay), SMMAC (Malacological Society of Mexico), and SMACH (Malacological Society of Chile), the congress will be a multicultural event with a broad focus around the world.

The motto of the WCM2025 is One Planet, One Health, One Challenge, and the theme is Molluscs and Global Health: Integrating Sciences for One Planet’s Well-being.

According to the World Health Organization, “One Health is an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimise the health of people, animals, and ecosystems”. This approach stimulates the establishment of a global framework and an integrated system involving collaboration across sectors and disciplines to improve global health. Environmental health is one of the issues approached by One Health, with the main challenges associated with this sphere of knowledge being the promotion of a more comprehensive understanding of the drivers and effects of pollution and climate change. During the WCM 2025, we hope to provide a productive forum where ideas and perspectives on molluscs can be shared and discussed. Special topics of the congress include evolutionary and developmental aspects, taxonomy, phylogeny, palaeontology, genomics, functional morphology, ecology, biodiversity, malacoculture, exotic and threatened species, bioindicators, as well as all methodological innovations related to Malacology. The congress has been held in various countries every three years and will be hosted in Latin America for the first time. In addition to traditional symposia, such as the one promoted by the AMS, WCM 2025 will also host the XXIX Brazilian Meeting of Malacology (EBRAM), organised by SBMa. The aim is to integrate education (bringing together students at all levels), research, and technological activities, promoting valuable international scientific exchanges in Malacology and related areas. Additionally, the proposed scientific program aims to address current questions involving molluscs, such as conservation, anthropogenic and climatic impacts, medical and applied malacology. As usual, the congress will gather professionals from various countries worldwide, facilitating significant institutional exchanges that benefit national and international science.