Tag Archives: Mollusc

Chiton

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Chiton

You have to do some searching for chitons if you are to find one.

  • Chitons are a type of mollusc that are found primarily on rocks in a marine environment, next to, or in the ocean.
  • The scientific name of a chiton is Polyplacophora, being the class it belongs to, although it has previously been known as Amphineura.
  • ‘Chitons’ are also known as ‘polyplacophorans’, ‘sea cradles’, ‘coat-of-mail shells’ and ‘loricates’.
  • The rough ellipse shape of a chiton is covered by a shell that is divided into eight plates, that is surrounded by what is known as a ‘girdle’, that is flexible and may or may not contain spikey protrusions or scales.
  • Generally chitons can navigate from one place to another and back to the same spot again with ease, and perhaps use the Earth’s magnetic field or secreted chemicals to find their way.

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  • Chitons have a muscle, referred to as a ‘foot’, on the underside of its shell, which is used to move the mollusc along surfaces.
  • The diet of chitons consists primarily of algae, phytoplankton, marine moss animals, and bacteria, although some species eat small crustaceans.
  • The word ‘chiton’ comes from the term khitōn, a Greek word that means ‘mail coat’, ‘frock’, or ‘tunic’.
  • Chitons have the ability to firmly attach themselves to surfaces with their ‘foot’, making them almost immovable.
  • The mouth of chitons is located on the underside of its body, while microscopic optical or light sensors are thought to be located in the shell.
Bibliography:
Chiton, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton
Davy K, Chitons, 2010, MESA, http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/chitons.html
Nordsieck R, Chitons (Placophora), n.d, The Living Word of Molluscs, http://www.molluscs.at/polyplacophora/index.html?/polyplacophora/main.html

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Giant Ghana Snail

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Giant Ghana Snail

Giant Ghana snails can be beaten in a race but no snail can beat it in size.

  • Giant Ghana snails are a species of snail, native to the forests of West Africa, in the countries of Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Ivory Coast.
  • The scientific name of giant Ghana snail is Achatina achatina and it is from the family Achatinidae, a family of large to medium land snails.
  • ‘Giant Ghana snails’ are also known as ‘giant tiger land snails’ and ‘tiger snails’, and should not be confused with the closely related ‘giant African snails’ with the scientific name Achatina fulica.
  • Giant Ghana snails can reach lengths of 18 to 30 centimetres (7 to 12 inches) making them the largest snails that exist on land, in the world.
  • Giant Ghana snails have been introduced to some areas of the United States where they are restricted, and some islands in the Caribbean, where they are considered a pest, while in some locations they are kept as pets.

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Giant Ghana Snail
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
  • Giant Ghana snails are hermaphrodites and can lay around 30 to 300 eggs at a single time, and they live to be around five to ten years of age.
  • Giant Ghana snails can be eaten, sold commercially in parts of Africa, and are a good source of protein.
  • The roughly coned shaped shell of a giant Ghana snail is often striped and chestnut to brown in colour, while the actual snail is a blue-grey.
  • Giant Ghana snails were originally very common in their native habitat, although their population has decreased in recent times as a result of over-consumption by humans, and habitat loss.
  • The diet of giant Ghana snails consists of decomposing vegetation and other plant life that can include vegetables, leaves, grass, flowers and fruit.
Bibliography:
Achatina (Achatina) achatina (Linné, 1758), 2015, Pet Snails, http://www.petsnails.co.uk/species/achatina-achatina.html
Achatina achatina, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achatina_achatina

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Giant Clam

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Giant Clam

You may not be a giant when next to a giant clam.

  • Giant clams are very large bivalves, shells with two pieces that are hinged together, and are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, in coral reefs.
  • The giant clam has the scientific name Tridacna gigas, and is a mollusc from the family Cardiidae, the family of cockles, and it is commonly believed to be the largest extant bivalve, and while it is the heaviest, longer specimens of Kuphus polythalamia have been found.
  • Giant clams typically range from 90 to 120 centimetres (35 to 47 inches) in length, and can weigh 100 to 200 kilograms (220 to 440 pounds), although they can grow larger.
  • The diet of a giant clam primarily consists of nutrients produced by algae that the clam plays host to and with which it lives in a photosymbiosis relationship, and it also consumes plankton and sometimes other plant and animal matter.
  • Giant clams possibly grow around 12 centimetres in length annually, until maximum length has been reached, and they have a lifespan spanning approximately 20 to 100 years in the wild.
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Giant Clam
Image courtesy of Malcolm Browne/Flickr
  • Once a giant clam has found a favourable location, it settles there and does not re-position itself ever again, however, they do have predators, that include eels; fish; starfish; and snails, that are smaller than the clam itself, and once attacked, they will be slowly eaten by their enemies.
  • Giant clams are vulnerably endangered due to coral reef habitat destruction as well as over-fishing partly due to the clam being considered as a delicacy.
  • Giant clams usually close in self defense, but quite slowly, and often not all the way, and while they have often been regarded as highly dangerous and fatal, this is considered a myth and no known fatalities have occurred.
  • Giant clams have a combination of colours that vary, and include yellow, red, orange, green, pink, blue and brown, and it is said that every clam is unique in its appearance.
  • Giant clams are said to be able to produce 500 million eggs at once, that are released in the ocean and once fertilised, they quickly hatch and produce a shell.
Bibliography:
Giant Clam, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/giant-clam/
Giant Clam, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/invertebrates/giant-clam/
Giant Clam, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_clam

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