Phylum
Mollusca
Phylum Mollusca includes snails and slugs,
oysters and clams, and octopuses and
squids.
General Characters
Habitat: They are aquatic and terrestrial
Size: small in size like sand grain some are
large up to 18 meters and weight about 1800
kg.
Humans &
Molluscs
Humans use molluscs in a variety of ways:
As food – mussels, clams, oysters, abalone, calamari (squid),
octopus, escargot (snails), etc.
Pearls – formed in oysters and clams.
Shiny inner layer of some shells used to make buttons.
Mollusca Body Plan
Allmolluscs have a similar body
plan with three main parts:
A muscular foot :The foot of a
mollusc may be adapted for
locomotion, attachment, or both.
A visceral mass – containing
digestive, circulatory, respiratory
and reproductive organs.
A mantle – houses the gills and in
some secretes a protective shell
over the visceral mass.
Mollusc Body
Plan
Most molluscs have separate sexes with gonads
located in the visceral mass.
Head-Foot
Region
Most molluscs have well developed head ends
with sensory structures including photosensory
receptors that may be simple light complex eyes
(cephalopods).
Buccal cavity
Thebuccal cavity of
mollusca posses the
rasping tongue called
radula honry teeths
Digestive system
Digestivesystem is well developed with two opening
(mouth and anus)
Alimentary canal is coiled and straight
Respiration
The space between the mantle and the visceral mass
is called the mantle cavity.
The
respiratory organs (gills or lungs) are generally
housed here.
Circulatory system
Many molluscs have an open circulatory system with
a pumping heart, blood vessels and blood sinuses
except cephalopods have a closed circulatory
system .
Haemocyanin is respiratory pigment
Excretion
Excretiontakes place
by paired nepheridia
and kidneys
Nervous System
• The nervous system is consist of three parts
Head (cerebral ganglia)
Foot (pedal ganglia)
Visceral mass (visceral ganglia)
Locomotion
Locomotion and
feeding by Muscular
foot
Classification
They are classified into
three classes:
Class Gastropoda
Class Bivalvia
Class Cephalopoda
Class Bivalvia
Bivalves are laterally
(right-left) compressed
and their two shells are
held together by a hinge
ligament on the dorsal
surface.
The Umbo is the oldest
part of the shell, growth
occurs in concentric rings
around it.
Formation of
pearls
