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The body whorl shows in this side view as the last complete turn of the shell spiral, the part of the shell that leads up to the aperture. The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk.
The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some gastropods appear shell-less but may have a remnant within the mantle, or in some cases the shell is reduced such that the body cannot be retracted within it .
The shell of Semicassis pyrum has a large parietal callus, at the top in this image The shell of Cymatium pileare has a narrow parietal callus around the surface of the aperture nearest the columella, on the left of the shell opening as it is shown here. A parietal callus is a feature of the shell anatomy of some groups of snails, i.e. gastropods.
The anal sulcus, also called the anal sinus or anal canal, in Gastropods is a notch, a shelly tube at the top of the aperture. [1] It is the first notch close to the suture. It houses the anal siphon through which the snail expels water and waste products. Shell of Drillia poecila Sysoev & Bouchet, 2001, showing the anal sulcus on top of the ...
In other words, in gastropods whose shells have varices, the shells are characterised by episodic growth - the shell grows in spurts, and during the resting phase the varix forms. In many gastropod whose shells have varices, for example the Cassinae , the varix is essentially merely a thickening and swelling of the shell at that point.
A shell of Zonulispira chrysochildosa. Turrid, plural turrids, is a common name for a very large group of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks which until recently were all classified in the family Turridae. However, recently the family was discovered to be polyphyletic and therefore was split into a number of families.
Turritellidae, with the common name "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a taxonomic family of small- to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the Sorbeoconcha clade. They are filter feeders; this method of feeding is somewhat unusual among gastropod mollusks, but is very common in bivalves.
Most species of wentletrap are white, and have a porcelain-like appearance. They are notable for their intricately geometric shell architecture, and the shells of the larger species are prized by collectors. The more or less turret-shaped shell consists of tightly-wound (sometimes loosely coiled), convex whorls, which create a high, conical spiral.