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The mantle cavity is a central feature of molluscan biology. This cavity is formed by the mantle skirt, a double fold of mantle which encloses a water space. This space contains the mollusk's gills, anus, osphradium, nephridiopores, and gonopores. The mantle cavity functions as a respiratory chamber in most mollusks. In bivalves it is usually ...
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks [a] (/ ... The mantle cavity, a fold in the mantle, encloses ...
The mantle is visible between the open valves. A mollusc shell is formed, repaired and maintained by a part of the anatomy called the mantle. Any injuries to or abnormal conditions of the mantle are usually reflected in the shape and form and even color of the shell.
The siphon is part of the mantle of the mollusc, and the water flow is directed to (or from) the mantle cavity. A single siphon occurs in some gastropods. In those bivalves which have siphons, the siphons are paired. In cephalopods, there is a single siphon or funnel which is known as a hyponome.
Mantle of giant clam with light-sensitive spots, which detect danger and cause the clam to close. Tridacna gigas, the giant clam, is the best-known species of the giant clam genus Tridacna. Giant clams are the largest living bivalve mollusks. Several other species of "giant clam" in the genus Tridacna are often misidentified as Tridacna gigas.
The mantle is roughly circular in outline, and is covered with pustules; the ground colour of the mantle varies, usually being orange or brownish, and the pustules are usually white. The mollusc does not elongate when crawling and the location of the head is revealed when it thrusts out its rolled rhinophores from beneath the
Some species brood the eggs within the mantle cavity, and the species Callistochiton viviparus even retains them within the ovary and gives birth to live young, an example of ovoviviparity. The egg has a tough spiny coat, and usually hatches to release a free-swimming trochophore larva, typical of many other mollusc groups. In a few cases, the ...
The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage.