The Diversity of

Molluscs
 Kingdom Animalia
• Approx. 37 phyla of multicellular
animals

• 9 MAJOR PHYLA

• Largest phylum (approx. 1.5 million

spp.) the Arthropods
 Major Phyla of Animals
 Arthropods dominate
 Molluscs the 2nd largest
group
8 or 9 taxonomic classes
2 are extinct
Taxonomic
Scheme
• Around 85,000 species - 60,000 to
Phylum Mollusca 
100,000 fossil species

• Proportion of undescribed species is

high - many taxa poorly studied

• Molluscs - about 23% of all the

named marine organisms – also live
in freshwater & terrestrial habitats.

• Highly diverse, not just size

& anatomical structure but behaviour
& habitat.
Evolution • Molluscs evolved from a
common ancestor - a
segmented worm 540 million
years ago

Giant African Snail (Achatina

marginata)

• Throughout human history

have been food, jewellery,
tools & pets
 Mollusca
Characteristics
• Latin name means soft bodied
• Unsegmented
• An internal or external shell
• A toothed tongue - the radula
• A mantle - a fold in the body wall
that lines the shell
• Muscular foot (and/or tentacles)
 Anatomy
• The radula - toothed
chitinous ribbon
(‘tongue’) in the
mouth

• Used for cutting &

chewing food

• Present in all
molluscs except
bivalves
 Reproduction
• Sexual – male & female
• Sometimes both sex organs
(hermaphrodite)

• Sea slugs & oysters can change

sex repeatedly

• External fertilization (aquatic

molluscs) & internal fertilization
(terrestrial molluscs)
• All produce eggs
 Class Gastropoda
‘Belly Foot’
• Includes the snails & slugs
• Shell usually coiled
• Shell - lost or reduced in some groups
• Body symmetry distorted by torsion
• Some monecious (hermaphrodite)
species
• Marine, freshwater, terrestrial
• More than 35,000 species
• 180 degree counter-clockwise
twisting of the visceral mass, Torsion in Gastropods
mantle & mantle cavity

• Positions the gills, anus &

openings from the excretory &
reproductive systems just behind
the head & nerve cord - twists
the digestive tract into a u-shape

• Allows head to enter shell first –

defence
 Operculum
• A proteinaceous or calcareous
covering on the dorsal, posterior
margin of the foot - protection &
prevents desiccation

• Allows clean water from in front

of the snail to enter the mantle
cavity
Euphallic (hermaphrodite) Genitalia

Garden Snail (Conru aspersum)

 Reproductive System &
Function
Ovotestis: Site of egg & sperm (functions as an
ovary & a testis)
Bursa Copulatrix: Receives sperm during
copulation.
Oviduct: Separates the groups of oocytes
coming from the ovary into a line - < the chances
of fertilisation
Vas deferens: Accumulates sperm prior to
copulation.
Vagina: Receives sperm during copulation.
Flagellum: Used in sperm transfer.
Penis: Transfers sperm during copulation.
Class Cephalopoda
 Class Cephalopoda
• Squid, octopus, cuttlefish
nautilus - 800 species

• Marine - characterized by
bilateral body symmetry

• Prominent head &

tentacles modified from
the primitive molluscan
foot

• Carnivores
 Class Bivalvia
• > than 15,000 species
of clams, oysters, mussels, scallops,
cockles etc.

• Saltwater & fresh

• Shell is divided from front to back into left

& right valves.

• Mostly filter feeders – gills are ctenidia =

specialised organs for feeding & breathing
Madeira’s
Molluscs
• Volcanic island 20m
years old

• 900 Km SW Portugal
• 800 Km W of Morocco
• 58 Km by 23 Km
• Alt. 1860m
 Madeiran Land Snails -
Evolution
• More than 250 species 74% endemic
area of 800 Km2
Madeira Land Snails - Evolution

• Allopatric speciation –fauna related to N Africa

• 20+ colonisations at different times

• Madeira has 2xs as many species as GB but fewer

families

• Proliferation of species in 3 families: Helicidae,

Pupillidae & Ferussaciidae
• Porto Santo - isolated island Land snails on Porto Santo
about 12 km by 5 km

• Species-rich & characterised by

radiations of spp. in several
families, especially the
Helicidae

• 65 samples from the mainland

& 5 offshore islets yielded 56
species, 84% of them endemic
 Hawaiian Snails

• Once, > 750 spp. - one of the best examples of

adaptive radiation

• 90% of this diversity has been lost!

• Habitat degradation & introduced predators

e.g. rats & rosy wolf snail (Euglandina rosea)

• Tree snails: a large genus of arboreal

(tree-living) endemic snails

• All 41 extant spp. are endangered

• In relation to land area, snail diversity richest
in the Pacific islands Pacific Islands Snail
Diversity
• 25,000 islands – 3 main regions

• < 6000 spp. - most are single island endemics

• Land snails - most endangered group

• Most recorded extinctions since the 1500s

• Pacific island snails = the majority of those

extinctions 
 Polynesian Tree
Snails
• Endemic to islands in
the Pacific Ocean.

• 150 spp.
of Partula snails
described

• Ranging over 8,000 km

from Palau to the
Society Islands
 Loss of Diversity
• 86 species of Partula on the
IUCN Red List 2004

• 51 are classified as Extinct (EX)

• 11 as Extinct in the Wild (EW)
• 15 as Critically Endangered (CR)
• 2 Endangered
• 1 Vulnerable
• 6 LC &/or data deficient
 Summary…..
• Mollusca – 2nd largest Phylum in the animal kingdom
• Appeared on earth 540 million years ago
• 8/9 taxonomic classes
• Main classes: Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Bivalvia

• 85,000 spp. – 35,000 Gastropods

• 23% of all named marine organisms = molluscs
• All main habitats – marine, freshwater & terrestrial
• Species Radiations on Islands (& Archipelagos)
• E.g. Madeira, Hawaii, Polynesia
 Summary…………….

• Soft bodied, Unsegmented, internal or external shell

• A toothed tongue - the Radula

• Mantle - a fold in the body wall that lines the shell
• Muscular Foot (and/or tentacles)
• Sexual – male & female, sometimes Hermaphrodite
• Operculum – prevents desiccation