The shell is hollow it has no subdivisions on its interior.

Production of new shell material is influenced by several factors: sexual hormones, intrinsic rhythms, diet, acidity of water and temperature of water. Aside from the shell-less slugs, gastropods have a soft outer organ called the mantle which deposits the shell by forming calcium carbonate crystals in a layered construction. Gastropods have a very limited sensory capacity. A few gastropods have evolved their radula to bore holes in the shell of other molluscs to get food. Characteristic also is the radula, a straplike tongue with rows of teeth on it, used for moving food to the back of the mouth and cutting plant material.

In cowries this opening is narrow and toothed. The animal can fully retreat into the shell through a roundish opening, which is then covered by a lid, the operculum. The broad, tapered, muscular foot secretes mucus and works by making ripples to allow the gastropod to glide. The head is usually well developed, bearing eyes and tentacles. GASTROPODS Basically walking stomachs with a well-developed gastrointestinal system, gastropods are scavengers or predators. Gastropods are among the few groups of animals to have successfully invaded all types of habitat in ocean, fresh water, and on land. Purple Snail.ĬLASSIFICATION Of the marine animals employed in homoeopathy, Murex is the only one belonging to the large class Gastropoda, which consists of some 60,000 species of whelks, slugs, limpets, conches and snails. Give me chastity and continence, but not just now.

Download tyrian purple snail