Mollusca - Snail

Escargot

Caracol

Mollusca

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There are around 100,000 extant species within the phylum with an estimated 70,000 extinct species. They range widely in size from micromolluskan snails and clams to larger organisms such as the Colossal Squid, believed to be the world's largest invertebrate. Molluscs are typically divided into ten taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Class Cephalopoda molluscs such as squid, cuttlefish and octopus are among the most neurologically-advanced of all invertebrates.

The majority of mollusc species live in marine environments, and many of them are found intertidally, in the shallow subtidal and on the continental shelf. Pelagic species of octopus and squid live throughout the water column of the ocean, and some species of clam and limpet live in the abyssal depths of the oceans around hot hydrothermal vents. However, not all molluscs are marine: the bivalve and gastropod classes also contain freshwater species, and the gastropods additionally have representatives that live on land, the land snails and slugs.

A number of species of molluscs are valued by humans as seafood, or for their decorative shells. Edible species include various clams, snails, squid and octopuses.

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