Phylum: Mollusca

CLASS: BIVALVIA
 Characteristics of Mollusks

Commonly called shellfish

Over 100,000 species
Most are soft-bodied and have shells
Most have bilateral symmetry
All Mollusks
Mollusk Anatomy
Have:
1. Muscular Foot:
On the animal’s
bottom, made of
muscle, used for
movement
2. Visceral Mass:
A soft, fleshy body
located above the
foot, and
containing guts,
heart, and other
internal organs
All Mollusks
Mollusk Anatomy
Have:
3. Mantle:
Covers the body
and is responsible
for secreting a
shell in most
species
4. Radula:
Raspy tongue
common to most
mollusks (not
bivalves). Has rows
of teeth to scrape
bacteria and algae
off of rocks
 Mollusk Anatomy
Most mollusks breathe with the help of gills
 Three Classes of Mollusks

1. Bivalvia- clams, mussels, scallops

2. Gastropods- snails, sea slugs
3. Cephalopods- Squid, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Nautilis
 Bivalves: Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia

CLAMS!
 Bivalve Characteristics

Have two shells (valves)

Mostly sessile (non-
moving) and filter
feeders
Have no head or radula
 Bivalve Characteristics

Held together by a hinge ligament

When threatened, the bivalve can “clam up” using its
adductor muscles
The umbo is the oldest part of the shell, growth
occurs in concentric rings around it
 Bivalve Characteristics
Has two
siphons
 One carries
water in,
the other
pumps
water out
 Receives
oxygen and
food
 Eliminates
Waste
 Bivalve Locomotion

Most bivalves move by expansions and

contractions of the foot.
 Clams vs. The World!
Scallops swim by clapping their shells together.
 Scallop Swimming
 Bivalve Locomotion

Oysters and mussels usually are sessile (don’t

move) and attach to substrates with byssal
threads.
 Bivalve Reproduction
External
Fertilization-
sperm and
egg released
into the
water
Larva
hatches and
develops in
the water
 Famous Bivalves: Shipworms

Shipworms are highly destructive

Bore into mangrove roots, driftwood, wooden boats
 The valves have tiny teeth that act as wood rasps and allow
these bivalves to burrow through wood.
 They feed on wood particles with the help of bacteria.
 Famous Bivalves: Oysters

Oysters can produce pearls

Pearls are formed when the oyster secretes shiny
layers of calcium carbonate to coat irritating particles
or parasites lodged between the mantle and the
inner surface of the shell
 SciShow: Pearls
 Famous Bivalves: Scallops

Have a row of small blue eyes along the mantle

edge. Each eye has a cornea, lens, retina, and
pigmented layer.
The Giant Clam also has eyes! Giant Clam
Clam Anatomy