Diversity and variability of shells of molluscs on display.
Part of a series related to
Biomineralization
General
Mineralized tissues
Remineralisation
Biocrystallization
Biointerface
Biofilm
Exoskeletons (shells)
Arthropod
exoskeleton
cuticle
Brachiopod shell
Cephalopod shell
cirrate shell
cuttlebone
gladius
Lorica
Choanoflagellate lorica
Protist shell
coccosphere
coccolith
diatom frustule
foraminifera test
testate amoebae
Seashell
echinoderm stereom
mollusc shell
nacre
chiton shell
gastropod shell
small shelly fauna
scaly-foot snail shell
estuary shells
Sponge spicule
Test
Endoskeletons (bones)
Vertebrate skeleton
Bone mineral
Ossification
Teeth, scales, tusks etc
Limpet teeth
Otolith
otolithic membrane
Scale microfossils
Tusk
Calcification
amorphous calcium carbonate
marine biogenic calcification
calcareous nannofossils
Aragonite
oolitic aragonite sand
aragonite sea
Calcite
microbial calcite precipitation
calcite sea
Great Calcite Belt
Silicification
biogenic silica
siliceous ooze
diatomaceous earth
Other forms
Bone bed
Kerogen
alginite
oil shale
Phosphate
phosphorite
Pyrena
Related
Mineral evolution
In soil
mineralization
immobilization
Ballast minerals
Magnetofossil
Magnetosome
Magnetotactic bacteria
Magnetoreception
Microfossils
engrailed gene
Druse
Cupriavidus metallidurans
Biomineralising polychaetes
Mineral nutrients
Microbial mat
Fossilization
permineralization
petrifaction
Burgess Shale preservation
Category
v
t
e
The mollusc (or mollusk[spelling 1]) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes. Not all shelled molluscs live in the sea; many live on the land and in freshwater.
The ancestral mollusc is thought to have had a shell, but this has subsequently been lost or reduced on some families, such as the squid, octopus, and some smaller groups such as the caudofoveata and solenogastres.[1] Today, over 100,000 living species bear a shell; there is some dispute as to whether these shell-bearing molluscs form a monophyletic group (conchifera) or whether shell-less molluscs are interleaved into their family tree.[2]
Malacology, the scientific study of molluscs as living organisms, has a branch devoted to the study of shells, and this is called conchology—although these terms used to be, and to a minor extent still are, used interchangeably, even by scientists (this is more common in Europe).
Within some species of molluscs, there is often a wide degree of variation in the exact shape, pattern, ornamentation, and color of the shell.
Cite error: There are <ref group=spelling> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=spelling}} template (see the help page).
^Giribet, G.; Okusu, A, A.; Lindgren, A.R., A. R.; Huff, S.W., S. W.; Schrödl, M, M.; Nishiguchi, M.K., M. K. (May 2006). "Evidence for a clade composed of molluscs with serially repeated structures: monoplacophorans are related to chitons". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (20): 7723–7728. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.7723G. doi:10.1073/pnas.0602578103. PMC 1472512. PMID 16675549.
The mollusc (or mollusk) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca...
purple dye, and sea silk. Their shells have also been used as money in some preindustrial societies. A handful of mollusc species are sometimes considered...
tardigrades, as well as the outer shell of certain sponges and the molluscshell shared by snails, clams, tusk shells, chitons and nautilus. Some vertebrate...
The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical...
the study of molluscshells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms...
shell material and which connects the shell to the mollusc. The specialized cells in the mantle form the shell using different minerals and proteins....
is an organic–inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It...
of a class of shelled marine mollusc with worldwide distribution, and are the only class of exclusively infaunal marine molluscs. Shells of species within...
mollusc was metameric, and it had a foot used for creeping and a "shell" that was mineralized. In one particular branch of the family tree, the shell...
covering of some animals Molluscshell Bivalve shell Gastropod shellShell, of a brachiopod Turtle shell Armadillo shell Electron shell or a principal energy...
midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, molluscshells, potsherds...
superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged molluscshells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of...
deposition in biological systems, such as the formation of stromatolites or molluscshells (see Biomineralization). Calcification can manifest itself in many ways...
medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point...
A bivalve shell is part of the body, the exoskeleton or shell, of a bivalve mollusk. In life, the shell of this class of mollusks is composed of two hinged...
ultimately give the shell its remarkable mechanical strength. The application of biomimetic principles elucidated from molluscshell assembly and structure...
Bone tissue is shown. For mollusc whorls, the body whorl in a molluscshell is the most recently formed whorl of a spiral shell, terminating in the aperture...
structures, whereas the total proportion of matrix is 'higher' than in molluscshells. This implies that polysaccharides make up the bulk of the matrix. The...
that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and...
Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group...
these tissues form a protective shield or structural support. Bone, molluscshells, deep sea sponge Euplectella species, radiolarians, diatoms, antler...
Global Information
