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A slug on a wall in Kanagawa, Japan.. Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc.The word slug is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a small internal shell, particularly sea slugs and semi-slugs (this is in contrast to the common name snail, which applies to ...
The mollusc (or mollusk [spelling 1]) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes. Not all shelled molluscs live in the sea; many live on the land and in freshwater.
The shell is coiled, aragonitic, [22] nacreous and pressure-resistant, imploding at a depth of about 800 m (2,600 ft). The nautilus shell is composed of two layers: a matte white outer layer with dark orange stripes, [23] and a striking white iridescent inner layer. The innermost portion of the shell is a pearlescent blue-gray.
There is currently no universally acceptable definition for the upper limit of the size range for micromolluscs. Because of this, the exact use of the word varies from one expert to another; however, the maximum size of the shell of a micromollusc species is usually 5 mm to 7 mm, around one quarter of an inch or less.
In contrast to many other mollusc classes, aplacophorans have no shell, and are instead covered by aragonitic sclerites (calcareous spicules), which can be solid or hollow. These spicules can be arranged perpendicular to one another within the cuticle to form a skeleton, stick up to form a palisade, or can lie flat against the cuticle.
The clam was initially named Ming by Sunday Times journalists, in reference to the Ming dynasty in China, during which it was born. [1] Later, the Icelandic researchers on the cruise which discovered the clam named it Hafrún, a woman's name which translates roughly as 'the mystery of the ocean'; taken from haf, 'ocean', and rún, 'mystery'. [4]
Molluscs are a large phylum of invertebrate animals, many of which have shells. Edible molluscs are harvested from saltwater, freshwater, and the land, and include numerous members of the classes Gastropoda (snails), Bivalvia (clams, scallops, oysters etc.), Cephalopoda (octopus and squid), and Polyplacophora (chitons).
Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources . Find sources: "List of recently extinct molluscs" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( November 2021 )