no backbone internal cavities containing the heart, kidneys, gonads most molluscs have a hard exterior shell that is produced by the mantle some, such as the slugs, have no shell at all some molluscs (squid and seahares (Pteropods) produce an internal shell
7 Classes of Mollusks
GASTROPODA (gastropods) - "stomach-footed" BIVALVIA (bivalves) - "two-valved" SCAPHOPODA (scaphopods) - "boat-footed" APLACOPHORA (solenogasters) - "without plates" POLYPLACOPHORA (chitons) - "bearing many plates"
Bivalve Taxonomy
http://www.manandmollusc.net/advanced_introduction/moll101pelecypoda.html
BIVALVIA
These animals produce two shells (valves) that are connected by a hinge. The animals have no head but with a foot that often extends between the two valves. Common names for some of the bivalves are clams, scallops, and oysters.
CLAM
CLAM
Edible Clams
Giant Clam
Geoduck
Geoduck Harvesting
Geoduck
Clam Anatomy
Steamer Clams
Razor Clam
Razor Clam
Alaska!!
Scallops
Scallops, such as the Atlantic Bay Scallop, do not burrow in the sand; instead, they lie on the bottom and move by using their abductor muscle to rapidly open and close their valves, ejecting water around the hinge. The abductor muscle is most often eaten, but most of the remainder is also edible.
Around the edge of the scallop's mantle is a series of blue eyes that, though rather weak, can detect movement nearby and warn of the presence of predators, particularly of sea stars.
SCALLOPS
Water is ejected backwards through openings on either side of the hinge, propelling the scallop in the opposite direction.
When not jetting around, they settle into evenlyspaced shallow pits in the sand.
SCALLOP
Scallop
Scallop Eyes
Scallop Eyes
Oyster
The oysters change their sex during their lives, starting as males and usually ending as females. The shape of oysters varies and depends mainly on how many crowd about them in the bed as they develop. The larvae of oysters, such as the Eastern Oyster, cement their mantles to rocks, shells, or any other solid objects and spend their lives in one place, opening their growing shells to filter algae from the water.
Oyster
Oysters
Oysters breathe much like fish, using both gills and mantle. The mantle is lined with many small, thin-walled blood vessels which extract oxygen from the water and expel carbon dioxide.
A small, three-chambered heart, lying under the adductor muscle, pumps colorless blood, with its supply of oxygen, to all parts of the body.
At the same time a pair of kidneys located on the underside of the muscle purify the blood of any waste
Oysters
There is no way of telling male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. The gonads, organs responsible for producing both eggs and sperm, surround the digestive organs and are made up of sex cells, branching tubules and connective tissue.
Oysters
What is that tiny crab we see in an oyster? It is a species of crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) that has evolved to live harmoniously inside an oyster's shell.
Oysters
Oysters
How do pearls end up inside of oysters? An oyster produces a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over time produces a pearl.
Pearl Oysters
Pearl Oyster
Edible Oysters
Mussels lack the muscular foot of clams or the large hinge muscle of scallops.
Instead, they have a "beard" of tough fibers near the hinge with which they attach
Zebra Mussel
Zebra Mussels were introduced into the Great Lakes in the mid eighties.
Probably arrived as larvae in the ballast water of visiting ships. They have been spreading like wildfire and often covering every available hard surface, including each other.
This wreaks havoc with power-plant cooling systems and municipal water supplies, where masses of the tiny bivalves clog pipes and water intakes. One positive effect for divers, however, the Great Lakes and surrounding waters have never been cleaner or clearer.
Zebra Mussel
Zebra Mussel
Zebra mussel
Mimic Octopus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8oQBYw6xxc&feature=player_embedded#at=2 5
Bivalve Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2TNoyvQ8 qo
Dead Clam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTzGgKys cfc&feature=related
Giant Clam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfviWg7k KM&feature=fvwrel
Oyster Filter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh7gFpaGr70&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70OHQJ2SbQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEwnarCYIO4&feature=related