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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 ...
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 mantle is a multifunctional, generally thin and fragile structure that line bivalve interiors and encloses their bodies. This structure secretes the shell, contains respiratory organs and facilitates feeding. The cavity that exists between the mantle and other soft tissues is aptly named the mantle cavity. [4]
Peltodoris is characterized by brown spots distributed randomly on its white mantle, each spot has a border of a darker brown color. [3] The spots are generally darkest around the center of the mantle. [5] Different populations exhibit different amounts of brown spots, and there is a general pattern of increasing coverage from west to east. [3]
As is the case in almost all cypraeids, two lateral extensions of the mantle are able to extend so as to cover the shell completely, meeting at the midline of the dorsal surface. The mantle can also withdraw into the shell opening when threatened.
A pearl is created in the mantle of a mollusk when an irritant particle is surrounded by layers of nacre. Although most bivalves can create pearls, oysters in the family Pteriidae and freshwater mussels in the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae are the main source of commercially available pearls because the calcareous concretions produced ...
Portal:Gastropods/Selected picture/1 . The sculpture of this shell of Epitonium scalare is raised vertical ribs which are known as costae.Costae are a common feature in the shells of many species within the genus Epitonium, generally known as wentletraps (a word derived from the Dutch word for spiral staircase).
Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are marine molluscs of the suborder Sepiina.They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses.Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy.