What Is A Mollusk? Things To Know About The Creature
MOLLUSK – In this topic, we are going to know and learn things about the mollusk or also known as molluscs or mollusca.
Officially known as mollusca, it is an invertebrate animal which is the second largest phylum, with the Anthropoda taking the lead.
It is, by far, the largest marine phylum which is composed of about 23% of all named marine creatures.
This phylum is under the superphylum Lophotrochozoa and under the kingdom Animalia.
It is also highly diverse in terms of size, anatomical structure, behavior and habitat.
Mollusca is usually divided into 8 or 9 classes. Among those were two which are extinct. To identify a mollusk, there are three features:
- am mantle with a cavity used for breathing and excretion
- radula, a toung-like structure which they used for feeding, with the exception of bivalves.
- structure of the nervous system.
Etymology
The term is derived from the French term mollusque which came from the Latin term molluscus which is derived from mollis which means “soft”.
Examples
- Cockle
- Also known as heart clam, it is a bivalve from the family Cardiidae. The two valves of the shell are equal in size and shape and is in brown to red or yellow in coloe
- Geoduck
- A marine invertebrate of this phylum that is in the sandy muds of the intertidal and shallow sublittoral parts of the Pacific coast. Its scientific name is Panopea generosa.
- Piddock
- This invertebrate is a bivalve that is adaptable in boring into rock, shells, peat, hard clay or mud.
- Cuttlefish
- A marine cephalopod of the Sepiodea order. It is akin to the octopus and squid and is known for its cuttlebone, a thick internal calcified shell.
- Octopus
- Basically a creature or specifically, a cephalopod with eight tentacles under the Octopoda order.
- Squid
- A ten-armed cephalopod under the Teuthoidea order. They are found in coastal and oceanic waters.
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