What are the main characteristics of Mollusca?

What are the main characteristics of Mollusca?

Characteristic Features of Phylum Mollusca

• They are bilaterally symmetrical.
• They are triploblastic, which three layers.
• They show organ system grade of organisation.
• The body is soft and unsegmented.
• Body is divisible into three regions – head, a visceral mass, and ventral foot.
• Body is covered by a mantle and shell.

What are the eight characteristics of Mollusca?

Mollusca Characteristics

• They are mostly found in marine and freshwater.
• They exhibit organ system level of organization.
• Their body has a cavity.
• The body is divided into head, visceral mass, muscular foot and mantle.
• The head comprises of tentacles and compound eyes.
• The body is covered by a calcareous shell.

What are the three most universal features defining molluscs?

The three most universal features defining modern molluscs are a mantle with a significant cavity used for breathing and excretion, the presence of a radula (except for bivalves), and the structure of the nervous system.

What are three characteristics of mollusks?

Main characteristics of Mollusca : Unsegmented soft body with bilateral symmetry. Presence of an internal or external shell. A toothed tongue (made mostly of chitin) called the radula. A mantle which is a fold in the body wall that lines the shell.

What are the characteristics of Mollusca that distinguish it from other phyla?

Molluscs have a mantle or mass of soft flesh that covers the soft body and encloses the internal organs. In many species, the mantle produces a hard shell. Not all molluscs produce a shell. Many molluscs have a radula, which, in most species, is a rasp-like scraping organ used in feeding (Fig.

What are the characteristics of the phylum Mollusca that distinguish it from other phyla?

Mollusks all have a mantle, a shell secreted by the mantle, a visceral hump, a foot, and a radula. Mollusks are different from other phyla because they have these things, most of which are unique to the phylum Mollusca. Describe the valve of a clam. The valve of a clam is also known as each half of the clam’s shell.

What is unique about Mollusca?

All molluscs also have gills, a mouth and an anus. A feature unique to molluscs is a file-like rasping tool called a radula. This structure allows them to scrape algae and other food off rocks and even to drill through the shell of prey or catch fish.

Which is true about Mollusca?

Bilateral symmetry and calcareous shell.

What are 2 differences in phylum Mollusca and phylum echinodermata?

They are triploblastic organisms. Molluscs have a hemocoel while echinoderms have a coelom. The key difference between Mollusca and Echinodermata is the habitat they live in. Clams, oyster and squid, are some molluscs while sea cucumber, starfish and sea urchin are some echinoderms.

Which of the following is a unique characteristic of molluscs?

Mollusks have a hard outer shell. There is a layer of tissue called the mantle between the shell and the body. Most mollusks have tentacles for feeding and sensing, and many have a muscular foot. Mollusks also have a coelom, a complete digestive system, and specialized organs for excretion.

What features distinguish members of the class Gastropoda from other Mollusca?

Gastropods are generally asymmetrical although they evolved from a bilaterally symmetrical mollusk ancestor. The asymmetry of gastropods is achieved through a process called torsion that occurs as the animal is developing into adulthood.

How molluscs differ from other phylum describe?

Although there is no single feature that all molluscs possess, three features are so common in molluscs that they are used to distinguish them from organisms in other phyla: Molluscs have a mantle or mass of soft flesh that covers the soft body and encloses the internal organs.

What are the 10 important characteristics of Mollusca?

10 Important Characteristics of Mollusca are given below: 1 One of the characteristics of mollusca is having a soft body and is protected by a hard shell that is bilaterally symmetrical. 2 Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs. 3 Body without cavity. 4 Body possesses a through gut with mouth and anus.

Who is the father of molluscs?

Aristotle, the father of Malacology de­scribed many molluscs, specially the cephalopods and divided molluscs into two groups depending on the presence or absence of shell. 2. Johnstonus (1650) coined the term Mollusca and his Mollusca included barnacles.

Who coined the term Mollusca?

2. Johnstonus (1650) coined the term Mollusca and his Mollusca included barnacles. 3. Linnaeus (1758) also retained the term Mollusca and included heterogenous soft-bodied forms like tunicates, anemo­nes, cephalopods and polychaeties.

How did Linnaeus classify molluscs?

Linnaeus (1758) also retained the term Mollusca and included heterogenous soft-bodied forms like tunicates, anemo­nes, cephalopods and polychaeties. 4. Cuvier (1795) threw the modern light on molluscan taxonomy. He divided the Mollusca into Cephalopoda, Gastro­poda, Pteropoda and Acephala.