Gastropoda: Gastropoda Temporal Range: Late Cambrian-Present

Gastropoda
Gastropoda
Temporal range:Late CambrianPresent[1] Pre
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Air-breathing land gastropodHelix pomatia, the Roman snail

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Cuvier, 1795[2]
Clades
See text.
Diversity
65,000 to 80,000 species[3][4]
TheGastropodaorgastropods, more commonly known assnailsandslugs, are a
largetaxonomicclasswithin thephylumMollusca. The class Gastropoda
includessnailsandslugsof all kinds and all sizes from microscopic toAchatina
achatina, the largest known land gastropod. There are many thousands of species
ofsea snailsandsea slugs, as well asfreshwater snails, freshwaterlimpets,land
snailsand landslugs.
The class Gastropoda contains a vast total of named species, second only to
theinsectsin overall number. The fossil history of this class goes back to theLate
Cambrian. There are 611familiesof gastropods known, of which 202 areextinctand
appear only in thefossilrecord.[3]
Gastropoda (previously known asunivalvesand sometimes spelled "Gasteropoda")
are a major part of the phylum Mollusca, and are the most highly diversifiedclassin
thephylum, with 65,000 to 80,000[3][4]living snail and slugspecies. Theanatomy,
behavior, feeding, and reproductive adaptations of gastropods vary significantly from
onecladeor group to another. Therefore, it is difficult to state many generalities for
all gastropods.
The class Gastropoda has an extraordinary diversification ofhabitats.
Representatives live in gardens, woodland, deserts, and on mountains; in small
ditches, great rivers and lakes; inestuaries,mudflats, the rockyintertidal, the sandy
subtidal, in theabyssaldepths of the oceans including thehydrothermal vents, and
numerous other ecological niches, includingparasiticones.
Although the name "snail" can be, and often is, applied to all the members of this
class, commonly this word means only those species with an externalshellbig
enough that the soft parts can withdraw completely into it. Those gastropods without
a shell, and those with only a very reduced or internal shell, are usually known as
slugs; those with a shell into which they cannot withdraw are termed limpets.
The marine shelled species of gastropod include species such
asabalone,conches,periwinkles,whelks, and numerous other sea snails that
produceseashellsthat are coiled in the adult stagethough in some, the coiling may
not be very visible, for example incowries. In a number offamiliesof species, such
as all the variouslimpets, the shell is coiled only in thelarvalstage, and is a simple
conical structure after that.
Contents[hide]
1 Etymology 2 Diversity
3 Habitat 4 Anatomy
4.1 The shell 4.2 Body wall
4.3 Sensory organs and nervous system 4.4
Digestive system 4.5 Respiratory system
4.6 Circulatory system 4.7 Excretory
system 4.8 Reproductive system 5
Life cycle 6 Feeding behavior 7
Genetics 8 Geological history and
evolution 8.1 Cladogram 9
Taxonomy 10 References 11
External links
Etymology[edit]
In the scientific literature, gastropods were described under "gasteropodes"
byGeorges Cuvierin 1795.[2]Cuvier chose "gastropod" by derivation from
theAncient Greekwords (gastr)"stomach", and (pods)"foot".
The earlier nameunivalvemeans "one valve" or shell, in contrast tobivalveapplied
to mollusks such as clams and meaning that those animals possess twovalvesor
shells.
Diversity[edit]
At all taxonomic levels, gastropods are second only to the insects in terms of their
diversity.[5]
Gastropods have the greatest numbers of named mollusc species. However,
estimates of the total number of gastropod species vary widely, depending on cited
sources. The number of gastropod species can be ascertained from estimates of the
number of described species of Mollusca with accepted names: about 85,000
(minimum 50,000, maximum 120,000).[6]But an estimate of the total number of
Mollusca, including undescribed species, is about 240,000 species.[7]The estimate
of 85,000 molluscs includes 24,000 described species of terrestrial gastropods.[6]
Different estimates for aquatic gastropods (based on different sources) give about
30,000 species of marine gastropods, and about 5,000 species of freshwater and
brackish gastropods.[8]The total number of living species of freshwater snails is
about 4,000.[9]
There are 444 recentlyextinctspecies of gastropods (extinct since the year 1500),
18 species that are nowextinct in the wild(but still existing in captivity) and 69
"possibly extinct" species.[10]
The number of prehistoric (fossil) species of gastropods is at least 15,000 species.
[11]
Habitat[edit]
Main articles:sea snail,sea slug,Terrestrial animal Gastropods,land snail,semi-
slug, andslug
Some of the more familiar and better-known gastropods areterrestrial
gastropods(the land snails and slugs) and some live in freshwater, but more than
two thirds of all named species live in a marine environment.
Gastropods have a worldwide distribution from the near Arctic and Antarctic zones to
the tropics. They have become adapted to almost every kind of existence on earth,
having colonized every medium available except the air.
In habitats where there is not enoughcalcium carbonateto build a really solid shell,
such as on some acidic soils on land, there are still various species of slugs, and
also some snails with a thin translucent shell, mostly or entirely composed of the
proteinconchiolin.
Snails such asSphincterochila boissieriandXerocrassa seetzenihave adapted to
desert conditions, other snails have adapted to an existence in ditches, near
deepwater hydrothermal vents, the pounding surf of rocky shores, caves, and many
other diverse areas.
Gastropods can be accidentally transferred from one habitat to another by other
animals, e.g. bybirds. The smallest bird species reported to carry a gastropod was
agreat tit(Parus major), as a hairy snailTrochulus hispiduswas found in the
plumage of a wintering great tit inPolandin 2010.[12]
Anatomy[edit]
The anatomy of a common air-breathing land snail. Note that much
of this anatomy does not apply to gastropods in othercladesor
groups.
The anatomy of an aquatic snail with a gill, a

maleprosobranchgastropod. Note that much of this anatomy does
not apply to gastropods in otherclades.
Light yellow - body
Brown -shellandoperculum
Green - digestive system
Light purple -gills
Yellow -osphradium
Red - heart
Pink -
Dark violet -
1. foot
2. cerebral ganglion
3.pneumostome
4. uppercommissure
5.osphradium
6.gills
7. pleural ganglion
8. atrium of heart
9. visceral ganglion
10. ventricle
11. foot
12.operculum
13. brain
14. mouth
15. tentacle (chemosensory, 2 or 4)
16. eye
17.penis(everted, normally internal)
18. esophageal nerve ring
19. pedal ganglion
20. lower commissura
21.vas deferens
22. pallial cavity /mantlecavity / respiratory cavity
23. parietal ganglion
24. anus
25.hepatopancreas
26.gonad
27.rectum
28.nephridium
Snails are distinguished by an anatomical process known astorsion, where the
visceral mass of the animal rotates 180 to one side during development, such that
the anus is situated more or less above the head. This process is unrelated to the
coiling of the shell, which is a separate phenomenon. Torsion is present in all
gastropods, but theopisthobranch gastropodsare secondarily de-torted to various
degrees.[13][14]
Torsion occurs in two stages. The first, mechanistic stage is muscular, and the
second ismutagenetic. The effects of torsion are primarily physiological - the
organism develops an asymmetrical growth, with the majority occurring on the left
side. This leads to the loss of right-paired appendages (e.g.,ctenidia(comb-like
respiratory apparatus),gonads,nephridia, etc.). Furthermore, the anus becomes
redirected to the same space as the head. This is speculated to have some
evolutionary function, as prior to torsion, when retracting into the shell, first the
posterior end would get pulled in, and then the anterior. Now, the front can be
retracted more easily, perhaps suggesting a defensive purpose.
However, this "rotation hypothesis" is being challenged by the "asymmetry
hypothesis" in which the gastropod mantle cavity originated from one side only of a
bilateral set of mantle cavities.[15]
Gastropods typically have a well-definedheadwith two or four sensorytentacleswith
eyes, and a ventral foot, which gives them their name (Greekgaster,stomach,
andpoda,feet). The foremost division of the foot is called thepropodium. Its
function is to push away sediment as the snail crawls. The larval shell of a gastropod
is called aprotoconch.
The principal characteristic of the Gastropoda is the asymmetry of their principal
organs. The essential feature of this asymmetry is that the anus generally lies to one
side of the median plane.; Thectenidium(gill-combs), theosphradium(olfactory
organs), thehypobranchial gland(or pallial mucous gland), and theauricleof the
heart are single or at least are more developed on one side of the body than the
other; Furthermore, there is only one genital orifice, which lies on the same side of
the body as the anus.[16]

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Gastropoda

Air-breathing land gastropodHelix pomatia, the Roman snail

The anatomy of an aquatic snail with a gill, a

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