| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Gastropod
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roman snail (Helix pomatia) | ||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Subclass | ||||||||
|
Subclass Eogastropoda Patellogastropoda Subclass Orthogastropoda Superorder Cocculiniformia Superorder Hot Vent Taxa Neomphaolida Superorder Vetigastropoda Superorder Neritaemorphi Neritopsina Superorder Caenogastropoda Architaenioglossa Sorbeoconcha Superorder Heterobranchia Heterostropha Opisthobranchia Pulmonata |
Most members have a shellAmongst other things, a shell is: An animal shell, the hard, rigid outer covering of an animal such as a mollusk or gastropod or tortoise or turtle. See also: shell (material). The hard outer layer of eggs. The hard outer layer of some plant fruiting bodi, which is in one piece and typically coiled or spiralled that usually opens on the right hand side (as viewed with the shell apexApex is also a town in the U. state of North Carolina. See also Cone # (Mollusks) The apex is the, usually pointed, tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod. It is the first-formed and therefore the oldest part of the shell. It is the embryonic shell. pointing upward). Several species have an operculumIn Biology operculum (Latin for "little lid") has been used to describe several completely separate features. Gastropods The operculum (plural : opercula or operculums) of gastropods is a corneous plate at the opening of the shell, attached dorsally to th that operates as a trapdoor to close the shell. This is usually made of a horny material, but in some molluscs it is calcareous. In some members, the slugs, the shell is reduced or absent, and the body is streamlined so its torsion is relatively inconspicuous.
While the best-known gastropods are terrestrial, more than two thirds of all species live in a marine environment. Marine gastropods include herbivoresIn zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plants (rather than meat). Thus, while humans may choose not to eat meat, such individuals are vegetarians, not herbivores. A true herbivore, such as a cow, is unable to chew or digest, detritusDiscworld characters 1. In geology, detritus is the name for loose fragments of rock that have been worn away by erosion. Biology) Detritus is organic waste material from decomposing dead plants or animals. This detritus is an important source of nutrient feeders, carnivoresCarnivores are animals that eat a diet consisting mostly of meat. Also, the word could refer to the mammals of the Order Carnivora, many (but not all) of which fit the first definition. Here is a list below that includes animals that are unable to chew an and a few ciliary feeders, in which the radulaRadula is the scientific name for the toothed chitinous ribbon in the mouth of gastropods. They use it to graze and scrape off diatoms and other microscopic algae off rock surfaces and other substrata. The radula is common to all mollusks, except the biva is reduced or absent. The radula is usually adapted to the food that a species eats. The simplest gastropods are the limpets and abalones, both herbivores that use their hard radulas to rasp at seaweeds on rocks. Many marine gastropods are burrowers and have siphons or tubes that extend from the mantle and sometimes the shell. These act as snorkels, enabling the animal to continue to draw in a water current containing oxygen and food into their bodies. The siphons are also used to detect prey from a distance. These gastropods breathe with gills, but some freshwater species and almost all terrestric species have developed lungs. While the gastropods with lungs all belong to one group (Pulmonata), the gastropods with gills are paraphyletic.
Sea slugs are often flamboyantly coloured, either as a warning if they are poisonous, or to camouflage them on the corals and seaweeds on which many of the species are found. Their gills are often in a form of feathery plumes on their backs which gives rise to their other name, nudibranchs. Nudibranchs with smooth or warty backs have no visible gill mechanisms and respiration may take place directly through the skin. A few of the sea slugs are herbivores and some are carnivores. Many have distinct dietary preferences and regularly occur in association with certain species.