The class Gastropoda is a diverse and highly successful class of mollusks within the phylum Mollusca. It contains a vast total of named species, second only to the
extinct and appear only in the fossil record, while 476 are currently extantwith
or without a fossil record.
Gastropoda (previously known as univalves and sometimes spelled "Gasteropoda") are a major part of the phylum Mollusca, and are the most highly diversified class in the phylum, with 65,000 to 80,000 living snail and slug species. The anatomy, behavior, feeding, and reproductive adaptations of gastropods vary significantly from one clade or group to another, so stating many generalities for all gastropods is difficult.
The class Gastropoda has an extraordinary diversification of
parasitic
ones.
Although the name "snail" can be, and often is, applied to all the members of this class, commonly this word means only those species with an external shell big enough that the soft parts can withdraw completely into it. Slugs are gastropods that have no shell or a very small, internal shell; semislugs are gastropods that have a shell that they can partially retreat into but not entirely.
The marine shelled species of gastropods include species such as
larval stage, and is a simple conical structure after that. (Full article...
... that the scale worm Arctonoe vittata protects the keyhole limpet Diodora aspera (shell pictured) with which it lives, by attacking predatory starfish?
... that the Cretaceous snail Condonella was described in 1927, but not placed into a snail family until 2000?
... that the fragile shell of the glassy nautilus Carinaria cristata(pictured) was at one time considered to be worth more than its weight in gold?
... that Spurilla neapolitana(pictured) defends itself with stinging cells derived from the sea anemones it eats?
... that Pupilla pratensis(shell pictured) has long been neglected in the malacological literature?
... that there are 12 endemic species of freshwater snails in Lake Skadar(map pictured)?
... that the land snail Balea sarsii(shell pictured) has been overlooked for a long time?
... that the land snail Vertigo ultimathule(shell pictured) is endemic to the northernmost part of Scandinavia?
... that flashes of light emitted by the sea snail Hinea brasiliana(shell pictured) may act as a "burglar alarm"?
... that
Candidula arganica
, a snail found in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, lives primarily in meadows?
... that
Candidula spadae
, a snail native to Central Italy, is at risk in part because of tourist activities?
... that the land slug Rathouisia leonina(pictured) from China is carnivorous?
... that the subterranean freshwater snail Hauffenia sp. from Slovakia(shell pictured) has been an undescribed species since the 1980s?
... that the land snail Oxychilus camelinus(pictured) was described from Lebanon?
... that land snails of the genus Abbottella (Abbottella calliotropis shell pictured) live on the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba?
... that the snail Tonna galea(pictured) is one of very few species of prosobranch gastropods that are luminescent?
... that the land snail Notodiscus hookeri (shell pictured) has unique shell structure among all gastropods?
... that the microscopic cave snail Zospeum tholussum (pictured) is so slow that in a week's time it may only move a few millimeters or centimeters in circles?
13 February 2013 - The sea slug Goniobranchus reticulatus is the only known animal that autotomizes its penis after mating and it is able to regenerate it subsequently.
A list of new Wikipedia articles about gastropods, including those that simply mention the words snail, slug, conch, etc. A bot creates this list, usually every three days.
Request to editors: please do not create any more categories of gastropods by country. Instead create list articles, article with a list of the marine or non-marine gastropods of whichever country or area you are interested in. We would also like to empty and delete the two remaining country categories we have, adding that information to list articles instead. Thank you.