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,
University of Gothenburg, Sweden) explored the evolutionary relationships of the parasitic marine
gastropod family
Pyramidellidae. He worked on marine
invertebrates, mainly
molluscs, and published more than 90 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, 76 are indexed in the
Web of Knowledge, and fourteen of them have been cited ten or more times.
According to his web page, he considered the goal of his research to be understanding the roles that evolutionary forces and
phylogeny have played in creating organismal diversity. To help develop this understanding, he used
phylogenetic analyses that integrated morphological, ultrastructural and molecular data. His research focused on molluscs and more specifically on the ectoparasitic pyramidellid gastropods and the, shell-less, primary deep-sea
aplacophorans, the
biogeography of these animals, and the relationship between the molluscs and other animal groups.
In addition to taxonomy and systematics, he published several papers on the use of
formalin fixed tissue for molecular studies. He was active in the
DNA barcoding community.
Schander was born in
Sweden in 1960. He lived in his home town of
Borås and 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
APAEfterapa, 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.
doi:
10.1080/00364827.1995.10413580.
Schander, C (1997). "Turbonillaangelinagagiliniae, new name for Turbonillascrobiculata Schander, 1994 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Pyramidellidae)". Bolletino Malacologico. 13: 45–46.
Schander, C.; et al. (1998). "Types, emendations and names - a reply to Lidén et al". Taxon. 47 (2): 401–406.
doi:
10.2307/1223769.
JSTOR1223769.
Pleijel, F.; Jondelius, U.; Norlinder, E.; Nygren, A.; Oxelman, B.; Schander, C.; Sundberg, P.; Thollesson, M. (2008). "Phylogenies without roots? A plea for the use of vouchers in molecular phylogenetic studies". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48 (1): 369–371.
doi:
10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.024.
PMID18424089.