ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF MOLLUSCS

Human interaction
Main article: Molluscs in culture

For millennia, molluscs have been a source of food for humans, as well as important
luxury goods, notably pearls, mother of pearl, Tyrian purple dye, sea silk, and
chemical compounds. Their shells have also been used as a form of currency in some
preindustrial societies. A number of species of molluscs can bite or sting humans, and
some have become agricultural pests.

Uses by humans
Further information: Seashell and List of edible molluscsMolluscs, especially bivalves
such as clams and mussels, have been an important food source since at least the
advent of anatomically modern humans, and this has often resulted in
overfishing.[4] Other commonly eaten molluscs
include octopuses and squids, whelks, oysters, and scallops.[5] In 2005, China
accounted for 80% of the global mollusc catch, netting almost 11,000,000 tonnes.
Within Europe, France remained the industry leader.[6] Some countries regulate
importation and handling of molluscs and other seafood, mainly to minimize the
poison risk from toxins that can sometimes accumulate in the animals.[7]

Saltwater pearl oyster farm in Seram, Indonesia

Most molluscs with shells can produce pearls, but only the pearls of bivalves and
some gastropods, whose shells are lined with nacre, are valuable.[2][3] The best natural
pearls are produced by marine pearl oysters, Pinctada margaritifera and Pinctada
mertensi, which live in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Natural pearls form when a small foreign object gets stuck between the mantle and

shell.

The pearl industry is so important in some areas, significant sums of money are spent
on monitoring the health of farmed molluscs.[8]

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I clad in Tyrian purple and wearing numerous pearls

Other luxury and high-status products were made from molluscs. Tyrian purple, made
from the ink glands of murex shells, "fetched its weight in silver" in the fourth
century BC, according to Theopompus.[9] Sea silk is a fine, rare, and
valuable fabric produced from the long silky threads (byssus) secreted by several
bivalve molluscs, particularly Pinna nobilis, to attach themselves to the sea
bed.[10] Procopius, writing on the Persian wars circa 550 CE, "stated that the five
hereditary satraps (governors) of Armenia who received their insignia from the
Roman Emperor were given chlamys (or cloaks) made from lana pinna. Apparently,
only the ruling classes were allowed to wear these chlamys."[11]

Mollusc shells, including those of cowries, were used as a kind of money (shell
money) in several preindustrial societies. Some shell "currencies" were not used for
commercial transactions, but mainly as social status displays at important occasions,
such as weddings.[12]
Bioindicators
Bivalve molluscs are used as bioindicators to monitor the health of aquatic
environments in both fresh water and the marine environments. Their population
status or structure, physiology, behaviour or the level of contamination with elements
or compounds can indicate the state of contamination status of the ecosystem. They
are particularly useful since they are sessile so that they are representative of the
environment where they are sampled or placed.[13] Potamopyrgus antipodarum is used
by some water treatment plants to test for estrogen-mimicking pollutants from
industrial agriculture.

Aesthetic value
The colorful molluscan shells of verities of shapes, size, forms and texture have
great aesthetic appeal to human beings of all ages.

Various sea-slugs, sea-butterflies, sea hares, several cowries, limpets, murex,

turbans, tritons, turret shells, periwinkles, nerites, olive shell, cone shells,
clusterwink, slithery octopuses, sheely nautiluses are always at centre of the
attraction in all public aquariums.

It is man’s inborn nature to collect, whether it be rocks, shells, coins, stamps, cars,
or baseball cards. We all collect. We always have. It’s part of being human. There
are almost as many reasons for collecting shells as there people collecting them:
many people simply admire the endless beauty and variety of shells, while others
collect more for scientific reasons – there is still a great deal to learn from and
about the shells of the world, and well-documented collections are of great value
to science, even today! Due to their rarity, some cones (Conus gloriamasis) are
considered as the glory of the sea, aristocrats etc are highly priced by the
collectors.

Elegant Margin shell (Marginella elegans) [1]

Commercial value
Commercial shells are ground, polished, embossed and cut into various sizes and
used in the shell-craft industry for preparing many value added products. Sea-
shells are used in the preparation of ornaments like shell-based jewelry (
necklace, ring, earrings, brooches, bangles, hair slides, hair pins etc);
household articles such as trays, astrays, table, lamps, shades, door hangers,
screens, toys, wall hangings, key rings, mother of pearls, buttons, garlands, chains
etc.
Trochus and Turbo are also commercially important gastropods in making
valuable buttons, bangles and mother of pearl.

The shell trade involves collection or shell-picking; stocking and transfer, and use
in small industries by the user agencies.

Several gastropods and bivalves are farmed and harvested commercially for
different purposes.

Abalone farming is form of mariculture that includes culture of any small to very
large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae.

Pearl Culture is a practice in which oysters are farmed for the purpose of
developing pearls. Oyster farming is an aquaculture (or mariculture) practice in
which edible oysters are raised for human consumption. Commonly farmed food
oysters include the Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, the Pacific
oyster Crassostrea gigas, Belon oyster Ostrea edulis, the Sydney rock
oyster Saccostrea glomerata, and the Southern mud oyster Ostreaangasi.Shells
like cowies have a long history of being used as currency (the money
cowry, Cypraea moneta), and the gold-ringed cowries (Cypraes annulus ) in
many parts of the world notably in Asia, Central Africa, the islands of the Indian
Ocean and countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal.

Some members of the Muricidae Family produce a bluish-reddish-purplish type

of dye. Muricid gastropods that have been used to dye material are –

Murex miliaris, The Purple Dye Murex (Murex brandaris), Hexaplex trunclulus, The
Atlantic Dog whelk (or “Dog winkle”), The Purple-mouthed Purpura (Purpura patula
pansa), The Barnacle Rock Shell (Concholepas concholepas) [1]

Gastronomic value
Molluscs are important as human food, poultry and shrimp feed and edible lime. A
wide variety of molluscs like snails, mussels, cockles, oysters, clams, cuttlefishes,
squids and octopuses are considered a delicacy all over the world, particularly in
the Indo-pacific region, Europe and the Americas. Snails (Abalones) are a special
delicacy to the French. However, snails are also an important item in the diet of
frogs, lizards, birds and many mammals.

Cultural value
Shells have played a central role in religion from prehistoric times on. Dominating
early religious practices, cowry shells (Cypraea) had powerful symbolism and this
was renewed in the religions of the great civilizations that followed.

Shells in some cultures even today are used as amulets, good luck charms, and
as symbols for love, fertility and life eternal.

Some examples of some these religious practices are:

Africa: Shells fetishes were often used in worship. Ceremonial garbs are
many times decorated with shells and were used in some religious ceremonies.

North American Indians also made fetishes of shells.

The Canadian Ojibwa tribe maintained a Grand Medicine Society in which the
sacred emblem was a shell.

India: Hindus: The god Vishnu holds his staff crowned with a very rare left-
handed Turbinella (“Chank“) shell. The Hindu, when praying, often clasps a
sacred chank or other venerated object in his hands, believing that it will help his
or her petitions be heard. Priests also use it for holding sacred oils.

Asia: Buddhists: The Chank or Turbinella also plays a significant role in their
ritual music and ceremonies, and figures into Buddhist iconography.

Spain: The home of the shrine of Santiago(St. James). St. James’s badge is the
Giant European scallop shell (Pecten jacobaeus Linne). Pilgrims to this shrine
purchased the simple but exquisitely sculptured scallop shells and wore them as
a sign of their pilgrimage to the shrine. This scallop also appears in many paintings
and statues of this saint throughout Europe.

Egypt, China and other cultures used the cowry in connection with their burials
and other religious ceremonies.

Sierra Leone: Cannibals during the nineteenth century used cowry shells in part
of their ceremonial rituals.

Pre-Columbian South and Central America: Archaeological sites have

produced shell trumpets that may have played a role in religious ceremonies.

Minoan Crete: Shell trumpets were used in religious ceremonies.[1]

Christianity:
Many churches had or still have baptismal fonts made of Tridacna gigas Linne)
(the famous “Giant Clam”!) or are designed in their likeness. They are thought to
be a symbol of birth.

Two species of Cypraea C.annulus and C.moneta [1]

Music and Communication:

Long before our modern day communication systems, man found that trumpets
made from shells produced a sound that carried for many miles. In many countries
shells have also been tied together or had such things as sand or beads sealed
inside them so that they became as sort of rattle to accompany song and dance.
Some ways in which shells were or still are used are:

as a summons to religious ceremonies as well as often playing a role in the

ceremony itself;

as a daily call to prayers. Shinto priests in Japan still use the Triton Trumpet
shell (Charonia tritonis L.) for this today.

as summons to call warriors to battle and to ring out triumphs in battle.

as an announcement to herald the entrance of kings, emperors, heroes, or

important persons. (or, in Fiji to this very day, to announce that fish is being sold
at the market, or at the pier)

as a prelude, or to call people to public gatherings, such as tribal or community

meetings, feasts, sporting events, etc.

as a curfew announcement – and is still used in Samoa today, as a signal to

proclaim the return of a sailing vessel from a voyage or fishing trip.

as an accompanimentin songs, chants and dance throughout the Indo Pacific.

as a ritual – blowing of the Triton trumpet (Charonia tritonis Linne) at sundown is

still customary in Hawaii today.

So, shells of Horned helmet (Cassis cornuta ), Triton’s Trumpet (Charonia

tritonis Linne), Queen conch (Strombus gigas Linne), King helmet (Cassis
tuberosa ), Giant Frog shell (Bursa bubo)Indian and West Pacific Oceans. Giant
stromb or conch (Strombus galeatus) – Central America are greatly used in
music.[1]
Biomedical Value
Molluscs are also used in the preparation in Ayurvedic and homeopathic medicines
in the form of extracts of oyster shell, cowry shell and operculum of Pugilina.
Shell amulets were once thought to ward of fill health, infertility or bad luck. Shells
have also been ground up for use in potions and for various medicinal uses
throughout history. Today the shell, its living flesh and by products are being
studied and used in many areas of medicine.

Some examples:

The deadly venoms of some Cone Shells (Conidae) are today being used to help
victims of strokes and heart disease, and to produce a revolutionary new drug for
chronic pain control (Ziconotide – still awaiting FDA approval)

An extract from the hard clam or “Quahog” (Mercenaria mercenaria L.) is a strong
growth inhibitor of cancers in mice. It is called mercenine.

Ground and processed oyster shells are used as a calcium supplements both for
humans and animals.Paolin, a drug made from abalone juice, is an effective
inhibitor of penicillin- resistant strains of bacteria, such
as Staphylococcusaureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Salmonella typhus and
parathyphoid A & B bacteria.

Oyster juice has been found to have anti-viral properties, and may be made into a
drug eventually.

The threads that some mussels (Mytilidae) use to attach themselves to rocks,
piers, and other hard surfaces are being tested as possible glue in surgery.

The cement of the Carrier Shells (Xenophoridae) is being studied for use as a
possible cement for bone fractures.

Traditional medicine in Vietnam has a wide variety of uses for shells: powdered
oyster shell is taken to treat acid indigestion, open wounds, fatigue and to stop
hemorrhage. .
Cuttlefish bones are used as a remedy for rickets, a healing agent in the
treatment of gastro-intestinal troubles, a local anti-hemorrhagic (i.e., it stops
internal bleeding), and as an antiseptic is cases of inflammation of the middle ear.
The flat shell of the Abalone, with its iridescent inside, is powdered and taken orally
to improve vision, to remove keratoses (cataracts), and to improve such conditions
as hemeralopia. Powdered pearls from oysters are used as a topical eye
medicine.[1]

Bioindicator
Molluscs, particularly the bivalves, are bioaccumulator of heavy metals and other
pollutants from water. Now a days, they are widely used bioindicators, to monitor
the environmental health status of the habitat they occupy. For example, by
analyzing the viscera of the widely distributed bivalve, Corbicula collected
from different locations of the Ganges-Padma river running from Nepal through
India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal, the status particularly of heavy metal
contamination levels of different locations can be evaluated. [1]

Geological Importance
The hard and limy fossils of the molluscs are chronological time clocks to
determine geological time . Through their fossils, petro-geologists are also able to
locate oil deposits below the earth surface. [1]

As scavengers
In ecosystems, a wide range of molluscan species work as scavengers. Some
nerites, moon snails, bladder snails, chitons, limpets, Hinia, geoduck clam work
as scavengers.[1]

Harmful Molluscs:
Freshwater snails of Philippines, China, Venezuela are responsible for the death of
thousands of people because the snails are the intermediate host of blood fluke disease
of Schistosomiasis. In India the disease Fasciolopsiasis is caused because the snails
are the intermediate host of the intestinal fluke, Fasciolopsis fuelleborni.

Many peoples in the United States become paralyzed when they consume infected
clams and mussels which are carriers of paralytic shell fish poisoning.

The garden snail, Achatina sp., is the most terrestrial destructive gastropod which eats
not only leaves but also destroys tender stems of the gardens. The cone, conus omaria,
possesses venomous stings which can inflict injuries and may even death. Teredo,
Bankia, Pholas damage the wooden portion of the ship immersed in water by boring
through

Demerits/Biodeterioration
Not all molluscs are beneficial. Some are destructive; for example, the burrowing
shipworm (Teredo) which damages wooden ships, boats, ships and logs. The borers (
shipworms) and foulers like mytilids anf epifaunal forms like oysters and anomids are also
found on the Bangladesh coast, and these are a nuisance.

Snails, land slugs are pest, damaging gardens, agriculture and vegetation. African giant
snail (Acatina fulica) are dangerous agricultural pest.

Some molluscs bear deadly neurotoxins. e.g. Piscivorous cone shells, Magician’s cone
(Conus magus), blue-ringed octopus etc

(Conus magus) (Teredo)

Various molluscs often serve as intermediate for parasitis helminthes causing disease
cattles and human.
Acatina fulica has been reported as intermediate host of human lungworm. The spread
of parasitic eggs of Salmonella by snails and slug is associated with fresh vegetables.[1]

Pests
Some species of molluscs, particularly certain snails and slugs, can be serious crop pests,[25] and
when introduced into new environments, can unbalance local ecosystems. One such pest, the
giant African snail Achatina fulica, has been introduced to many parts of Asia, as well as to
many islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. In the 1990s, this species reached
the West Indies. Attempts to control it by introducing the predatory snail Euglandina
rosea proved disastrous, as the predator ignored Achatina fulica and went on to
extirpate several native snail species, instead.[26]
Harmful to humans
Stings and bites

The blue-ringed octopus's rings are a warning signal; this octopus is alarmed, and its
bite can kill.[14]

Some molluscs sting or bite, but deaths from mollusc venoms total less than 10% of
those from jellyfish stings.[15]

All octopuses are venomous,[16] but only a few species pose a significant threat to
humans. Blue-ringed octopuses in the genus Hapalochlaena, which live around
Australia and New Guinea, bite humans only if severely provoked,[14] but their venom
kills 25% of human victims. Another tropical species, Octopus apollyon, causes
severe inflammation that can last for over a month even if treated correctly,[17] and
the bite of Octopus rubescens can cause necrosis that lasts longer than one month if
untreated, and headaches and weakness persisting for up to a week even if treated.[18]
Live cone snails can be dangerous to shell collectors, but are useful
to neurology researchers.[19]

All species of cone snails are venomous and can sting painfully when handled, although
many species are too small to pose much of a risk to humans, and only a few fatalities
have been reliably reported. Their venom is a complex mixture of toxins, some fast-
acting and others slower but deadlier.[19][15][20] The effects of individual cone-shell toxins
on victims' nervous systems are so precise as to be useful tools for research
in neurology, and the small size of their molecules makes it easy to synthesize
them.[19][21]

Disease vectors

Skin vesicles created by the penetration of Schistosoma. (Source: CDC)

Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever), a disease caused

by the fluke worm Schistosoma, is "second only to malaria as the most devastating
parasitic disease in tropical countries. An estimated 200 million people in 74 countries
are infected with the disease – 100 million in Africa alone."[112] The parasite has 13
known species, two of which infect humans. The parasite itself is not a mollusc, but
all the species have freshwater snails as intermediate hosts.[113]
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