Running head: LABORATORY DISSECTION: PHYLUM MOLLUSCA

In this laboratory dissection report, I demonstrate my skills in using APA formatting,

headings, and a table of contents and figures. It also shows my ability to write objectively in
an abstract and use the taxonomic vocabulary correctly. The section highlighted in green also
exhibits my skill in determining the evolutionary relationships between organisms by using
homologous characteristics to design a cladogram. The section highlighted in yellow shows
my ability to describe organisms by their anatomy, resulting physiology, and behaviors. The
section in blue highlights my ability to use research and use in-text citations in APA style as I
describe the relationship between molluscs and their environment and humans.

Lab Dissection: Phylum Mollusca

Paige Davis
2 June 2014
BIO 204- Invertebrate & Vertebrate Zoology
Brigham Young University- Idaho

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Abstract
The organisms of Phylum Mollusca possess several main traits that allow them to adapt to their
environment. Each of the four classes studied exhibit different combinations of traits. Class
Polyplacophora is most identifiable for their multi-plated shells. Class Bivalvia is most
distinguishable for their bivalve and burrowing foot, and unique for their filter-feeding
behavior. The organisms of Class Gastropoda are unique for the whorled shell of snails or
absent shell in slugs. Lastly, Class Cephalopoda includes octopuses and squids that have lost
their shell in favor of a pen, as well as nautiluses and cuttlefish that have retained a shell of
some sort; all use a modified foot in the form of arms and tentacles.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Laboratory Dissection: Phylum Mollusca...................................................................................................... 4
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Phylogenic Relationships .......................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 6.1 Cladogram of examined molluscs. ........................................................................................... 4
Evolutionary Survey of the Animal Kingdom ............................................................................................ 4
Ecological & Human Impacts .................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 7
References .................................................................................................................................................... 8

List of Figures
Figure 5.1 Cladogram of examined Rotifers & Nematodes...4
Figure 5.2 Diagram of Philodina body organization....5

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Laboratory Dissection: Phylum Mollusca

Introduction
Phylum Mollusca possesses eight different classes. In this lab, we only look at four classes. The
four classes we studied are Class Bivalvia, Class Gastropoda, Class Polyplacophora, and Class
Cephalopoda. We examined a squid specimen of Class Cephalopoda in detail.
All organisms of Phylum Mollusca possess the basic triploblast developmental structure,
bilateral symmetry and cephalization, and a true coelom, what makes them part of Clade
Lophotrochozoa is their trochophore larval stage. At some point, all molluscs have possessed
several features that make them unique.

Shell w/ 7-8
plates

Class Cephalopoda

Class Gastropoda

Class Bivalvia

Class Polyplacophora

Phylogenic Relationships

Bivalve
Loss of
radula

Torsion

Arms & Tentacles

Siphon
Well-developed head
Shell coiling

2 or less
shells
Possess mantle, foot, chambered
heart, and radula
Lophotrochozoan

Figure 6.1 Cladogram of examined molluscs.

Evolutionary Survey of the Animal Kingdom

Some of the unique traits of Phylum Mollusca include a muscular foot, mantle and mantle cavity,
a radula. The mantle may secrete a shell, which is another unique feature of molluscs. The mantle
cavity may house lung or a gill, and will use branchial hearts by the gills to support the systemic
heart. Most molluscs possess an open circulatory system, except the cephalopods that have a

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closed circulatory system. Despite these overall similarities, each of the four classes we examined
in lab possess their own combinations of characteristics.
Organisms of Class Polyplacophora, or chitons, possess a dorsal shell with seven or eight plates.
These shell plates are secreted by the mantle, and creates lateral mantle cavities on each side,
housing gills for respiration. They possess an anterior mouth with a rasping radula that allows
them to scrape algae off rock surfaces. Their ventral foot allows them to suction cup to a surface
or crawl across rock surfaces. These are marine animals that live in rock and intertidal zones,
moving at night to feed on their algae prey.
Bivalves of Class Bivalvia
include clams, mussels,
oysters,
scallops,
and
shipworms.
They
also
possess a shell like the
chitons; however, their shell
is composed of two valves
that hinge dorsally. The
valves create concentric rings
around the umbo, or the
a
b
oldest portion of the shell.
Figure 6.2 (a) Periostracum layer and (b) nacreous layer of bivalve shell.
The shell itself is made of
three layers: a superficial periostracum layer, a middle prismatic layer, and a deep nacreous layer.
The nacreous layer is pearlescent, shiny layer (see Fig. 6.2) where the mollusc will collect sand
and imperfections and wrap them with nacre, producing pearls. Bivalves possess a mantle on the
medial surface of each shell, containing gills that filter the water of oxygen and food particles.
These gills are important because of their filter-feeding habits. Because they filter feed, they do
not possess a radula. A portion of their mantle is also modified to form incurrent and excurrent
apertures, or openings, to allow this water filtration (Kellogg & Fautin, 2002). Lastly, they possess
a foot for burrowing, rather than
locomotion.
Class
Gastropoda
contains
terrestrial, freshwater, and marine
snails and slugs. Snails possess only
one asymmetrical, whorled shell
with the same three layers of the
bivalves, while slugs have lost their
ancestral shell. Snails use torsion to
orient their shells and bodies as
part of their development. The Figure 6.3 Snail shell apex and aperture
oldest portion of their shell is at the apex, or smallest part of the shell, spiraling to the newest

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portion and aperture, or opening to the mantle cavity (see Fig. 6.3). They possess a mantle with
a gill or a lung (those with lungs are classified as pneumostomes). They possess a radula in their
well-developed heads that use tentacles and eyes. They use a large, muscular foot for
locomotion, using slime to ease the way as they move.
Lastly the Cephalopods, including squids, octopuses, nautiluses, and cuttlefishes, possess a
mantle of many features. The mantle, rather than producing a shell like other molluscs, produces
a pen inside the dorsal visceral sac. This is
visible in the picture taken during the
squid dissection in lab (see Fig. 6.4).
Cephalopods also use chromatophores to
allow them to change the coloring of the
mantle to whatever coloring suites their
defensive or predatory needs (Wheeler &
Fautin, 2001). They are carnivorous, using
their eight arms and two tentacles to
capture their prey and feed it to their
mouth. These arms and tentacles are a
modified foot for the cephalopods. Their
Figure 6.4 Removal of pen during squid dissection
mouth contains the radula consistent
with mollusc development in addition to their tough, beak-like jaws. The arms, tentacles, and
siphon (or funnel) are modified parts of the foot. They are used for locomotion and feeding. The
siphon is used for jet propulsion and expulsion of ink, reproductive material, and digestive
wastes.

Ecological & Human Impacts

Each of the four classes have different environments and influences. All molluscs began in marine
ecosystems, and several have slowly transitioned to broader environmental capacities. The
polyplacophores and cephalopods have maintained their marine environments. They each do not
have a significant impact on human activities, although some cephalopod species have a
tendency to feed on near-shore water fish and herring, damaging those local fisheries that
depend on those fish populations (Taylor, 2002). There are some historical and indigenous
human populations that have eaten chitons of Class Polyplacophora; however, such consumption
is not a regular occurrence for contemporary society (Campbell & Fautin, 2001). Bivalves and
gastropods expanded their environments to freshwater ecosystems, and gastropods went
further to inhabit even terrestrial environments. Bivalves are used as food in many human
cultures, while the pearls created by oysters are used for commercial pearls for jewelry and
decoration. However, despite their benefits, they can be damaging as well: some bivalve larvae
can become parasites to fish, and shipworms can cause substantial damage to different wooden
seafaring vessels and structures (Kellogg & Fautin, 2002). Lastly, gastropods are the largest group
of molluscs, and have a variety of different impacts on their environments. They can help with

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seed and spore dispersal of different land plants, the decomposition of organic matter, and may
serve as the intermediate host for some parasites (Mulcrone, 2014), including the trematodes
we examined in the previous unit.

Conclusion
I really liked this labbut maybe that was because they werent worms. I do think this was an
easier phylum to learn about because it seems more straightforward than some other phyla we
have studied because molluscs have a specific set of characteristics that each class has in a
special combination with different modifications. That made organizing the information much
easier to mentally organize, and this lab report easier to break down. Each class has a presence
or absence (or modification) of a trait because they have adapted to a certain feature of their
habitat, locomotive strategy, feeding strategy, or respiratory/metabolic strategy.
Learning about these adaptations and modifications helps me better understand how a group
of animals can be so diverse in characteristics and behaviors, yet still be related. I have actually
had a merging in some of my academic learning as we have started discussing the way genetics
and inheritance work in organisms. Phylogenetic trees and genetic pedigrees are very closely
related. While a genetic pedigree examines a specific organism or population for an individual
gene, a phylogenetic tree charts the relation of different classifications of animals and groups
them by evolution of traits that signal a temporal and genetic connection between different
species, genus, families, orders, classes, phyla, and kingdoms. The difference between these
charting techniques is a matter of scope and concentration. However, through a genetic
pedigree, it may be possible to explain larger concepts of evolution of a particular species.

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References
Campbell, A., & Fautin, D. (2001). Polyplacophora. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Polyplacophora/
Kellogg, D., & Fautin, D. (2002). Bivalvia. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Bivalvia/
Mulcrone, R. (2014). Anguispira alternata. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Anguispira_alternata/
Taylor, R. (2002). Loligo forbesii. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Loligo_forbesii/
Wheeler, K., & Fautin, D. (2001). Cephalopoda. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Cephalopoda/