Mollusks

Mollusks are soft-bodied animalswith a hard protective covering.

There are manytypes of mollusks,including clams, oysters, snails,squid and octopi.

There are manyMollusks that weeat!

The Mollusk Phylum has threeMain classes:

1. Gastropods (ex. - snails)

2. Bivalves (ex. - clams)

3. Cephalopods (ex. - squid)

Mollusks have a mantle, which is protective tissueCovering its body. They breathe using gills, and theyMove using a muscular foot.

One advancement that mollusks haveis an open circulatory system.

The blood is not always inside of veins.

Gastropods(snails) have adapted to life on land.

This is a big step!

Most gastropods are covered with a protective shell.

Many have eyes.

Gastropods use a radula, a rough tongue,to eat by scraping off food.

The next class of mollusks is bivalves,which includes clams and oysters

Bivalves are covered by a hard protective Hinged shell, like this giant clam below.

The last class of mollusks is cephalopods,Which includes octopi and squid.

Cephalopod means “head-foot”. Can you see why it has this name?

Cephalopods have many advancements:

1. Closed circulatory system (blood alwayswithin heart or veins)

2. A foot divided in to tentacles

3. A well-developed nervous system with eyes

Fact or fiction?

Here is a photo of a real giant squid.

The squid in the previous picture measured50 feet long and weighed 5000 lbs.! It’s eyes would be almost the size of a soccer ball.

And here’s an interesting fact….in the water, Giant squid are “Horace Mann” maroon in color. Perhaps we should reconsider our mascot?