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A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods.Known molluscivores include numerous predatory (and often cannibalistic) molluscs, (e.g.octopuses, murexes, decollate snails and oyster drills), arthropods such as crabs and firefly larvae, and, vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals. [1]
The surface-dwelling nudibranch, Glaucus atlanticus, is a specialist predator of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man o' war. This predatory mollusc sucks air into its stomach to keep it afloat, and using its muscular foot, it clings to the surface film.
The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes the adult shells difficult for many predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation: [2] Some tropical crustaceans can break the dorsum of a cowry shell. Some mollusc-eating cones, such as Conus textile, can inject venom into the cowry's flesh. The cone then ...
Peltodoris atromaculata, more commonly known as the dotted sea slug or sea cow, is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Discodorididae. [1] It dwells in salt water up to the depth of 40m.
This may help the gastropod locate food or avoid predators. In terrestrial species, ventilation is better with anterior positioning. This is due to the back and forth motion of the shell during movement, which would tend to block the mantle opening against the foot if it was in a posterior position.
A cockle is an edible marine bivalve mollusc.Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae. [2]True cockles live in sandy, sheltered beaches throughout the world.
Anti-predator adaptation in action: the kitefin shark (a–c) and the Atlantic wreckfish (d–f) attempt to prey on hagfishes. First, the predators approach their potential prey. Predators bite or try to swallow the hagfishes, but the hagfishes have already projected jets of slime (arrows) into the predators' mouths.
The taxonomic term Bivalvia was first used by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758 to refer to animals having shells composed of two valves. [3] More recently, the class was known as Pelecypoda, meaning "axe-foot" (based on the shape of the foot of the animal when extended).