Chapter 25, Problem 36A

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The unique characters of the mollusks living in hydrothermal vents.

Introduction:

Animals which belong to the phylum Mollusca are known as mollusks. They are mostly marine and the second most diverse phylum. They have soft bodies and the dorsal epidermis is modified to form the mantle, which encloses the mantle cavity and visceral organs. 

Explanation of Solution

Hydrothermal vents are the areas of sea or other water bodies, where the temperature of water is generally higher than other regions. The gastropods are the mollusks that generally live in hydrothermal vents and they have different adaptations for living in the hot climate. So, they have specialized scale like foot covered with sclerite. It has a soft core epithelial tissue, which by conchiolin and upper most covering made up of pyrite and greigite.