PHYLUM MOLLUSCAColwyn Sleep
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
-Molluscs are free living forms and can aquatic, terrestrial, or amphibious.-Mollusk bodies are soft and unsegmented, enclosed in a mantle, and usually covered by a shell.
-Mollusc digestive system is complete.-Respiratory organs are in the form of gills called ctenidia.-Locomotive structure is represented by muscular foot.
-Body is differentiated into three regions: head, visceral hump and foot.-Mantle secretes the calcarious shell, which may be external or internal.
-There are four main classes of mollusks: Amphineura (polyplacophora), Bivalvia, Gastropoda, and Cephalopoda.
A FEW OF THE MOLLUSCA CLASSES…
Bivalves Bivalves are mollusks belonging to
the class Bivalvia. They also are called pelecypods. They typically have 2- part shells with both halves being symmetrical . The class has 3,000 species including scallops, clams,
oysters, and mussels. They include both marine and fresh water forms. They feed by siphoning and filtering large particles from the water. Some bivalves such as scallops can swim.
Gastropods Gastropods, typified by the snail,
include many different types of species. They live everywhere from gardens, to forests, to deserts and mudflats. The
class gastropods includes limpets, periwinkles, snails, slugs, and sea slugs. Gastropods are mostly are found in
saltwater, but can be found in freshwater as well. Others live near
moist areas, such as swamps or gardens. Some gastropods such as slugs
don’t have shell.
Cephalopods Cephalopods can be found
anywhere in the ocean at any and every depth . They are widely
regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates and have well developed skills and brains. All
cephalopods are carnivores. They also have a highly developed eyesight. Some examples of
cephalopods are: octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus, and squid.
SHAPE CHARACTERISTICS
Despite their diversity, all molluscs share characteristics that define their body plan. The body has a head, a foot and a visceral mass. This is all covered with a mantle that typically secretes the shell.
Typically, at least in the more primitive members of each group, there are one or more pairs of gills (called ctenidia) which lie in a posterior cavity or in a posterolateral groove surrounding the foot. The
pallial cavity is the space into which the kidneys, gonads, and anus open.Molluscs are coelomate, although the coelom is reduced and represented by the kidneys, gonads, and
pericardium, the main body cavity which surrounds the heart.They are also Protostomes so the mouth develops first in the embryo.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
The molluscan nervous system nervous system has a dorsal brain, nerve ring, and a pair of solid ventral nerve cords with statocysts (balance organs) and eyes that detect shadows and movement as
major sense organs.
MOVEMENT
Mollusks move with their feet. The feet of different kinds of mollusks are for crawling, digging, swimming, and catching prey. Mollusks have two methods of movement. The first is jet propulsion in which they siphon water through a hole and shoot it out. Clams and bottom
dweller mollusks have feet that they move to get around. They also use them to escape an enemy.
RESPIRATION METHOD AND STRUCTURES
Mollusk reproduction can be simple or very complex. An example of one method is that of the freshwater mollusks. The male releases his sperm, which goes into the ocean, until a female mollusks
catches it and the sperm begins to fertilize. Once fertilized, the egg becomes a swimming form known as a trochophore larva, then develops into a veliger larva. The process then differs as the larva forms
into one of the many different classes of mollusk. Some mollusks, like snails, can become hermaphrodites, meaning they can be a female or a male. They do this to allow for more potential
mates. Other mollusks, such as the oyster can switch between sexes.
EXCRETION METHOD AND STRUCTURES
Many mollusks, including snails have an excretory organ called the nephidrium. This organ is used to maintain fluid balance within snails. Water, minerals, and other substances pass
through the nephidrium. Another vital part of the snail's excretory anatomy is the haemolymph, or heart sac. This organ removes nitrogenous waste from the body of the
gastropod and takes any toxins, minerals and, excesses to remove it from the body.
FEEDING METHOD AND STRUCTURES
To obtain their food, mollusks use their radula, a tongue-like organ that protrudes from the mouth, and scratch a belt of teeth back and forth to loosen and snatch up their food. The amount of teeth a
mollusk has differs from mollusk to mollusk. Some have a single tooth, and others posses hundreds of thousands. An adaptation certain mollusks have is that there is poison contained in their hollow teeth. Some mollusks, the bivalves, are filter feeders. Water rushes in between their two shells and food is
filtered out as it is released.
SURPRISING FACTS
-Mollusks have glands that make mucus, which mollusks use in many important uses such as locomotion, food entrapment and prevention of water loss.
-Some mollusks, like the nudibranch have their lungs out side their body for protection. For example, the nudibranch uses it lungs to sting its predators and get away.
-Molluscs provide us with food, jewelry, tools, and even pets. -Some mollusca are also used for measuring pollution.
-Leeches are a mollusk with a number of medical purposes.
BIBLIOGRAPHYhttp://www.oceanicresearch.org/education/wonders/mollusk.html
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