Mollusc

Molluscs Temporal range: Ediacaran or Cambrian - Recent
Caribbean Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis sepioidea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca Linnaeus, 1758

Cypraea, the Cowrie. About 80% of all known mollusc species are gastropods.

Molluscs, or mollusks, are an important phylum of invertebrate animals. Most of them are marine. They have huge numbers in-shore, that is, in shallow waters near the shore. They are probably the largest marine phylum, with about 93,000 recognised species, 23% of all named marine organisms. They also occur in freshwater and on land. Most molluscs have shells, but some groups do not: octopods, slugs, and the gastropods known as sea slugs. There is great variety in the phylum, much more so than their ancient rivals, the brachiopods.

Classes of molluscs:

• Cephalopods: Squid, Octopus
• Gastropods: whelks, limpets, snails, slugs, Nudibranchs
• Bivalves: Most shellfish; clams, oysters, scallops, mussels
• Scaphopoda: the tusk shells
• Polyplacophora: Chitons
• Monoplacophora:
• Aplacophora: worm-like molluscs

Uses:

• Many molluscs are eaten as food: clams, oysters, scallops, mussels, squid (calamari) and land snails (escargot)
• Oysters sometimes make pearls, which are valuable and used to make necklaces. Other shells are collected for their beauty and sometimes used to make jewellery.