Chapter 28, Problem 10STP

Summary Introduction

To write:

The body structure from each of the given mollusks and to explain the way the structures are related.

Introduction:

Mollusks range from slow-moving slung to jet-propelled squid, to scallops and cuttlefish, to chitons and nudibranches. Mollusks vary in size from almost microscopic snails to giant squids that can grow to 21 m in length. There are more than 110,000 species of mollusks. Some of them are lives in marine water; others live in wetlands, while some live in wetland habitats.

Explanation of Solution

The mollusks are coelomatous creatures of bilateral symmetry, a flexible internal body, a digestive tract of two openings, a muscular foot and a mantle. The mantle is a membrane that covers the internal organs of the mollusks. In marine mollusks, the mantle secretes calcium carbonates to form a marine. Some mollusks, including slugs and squids, are adapted to life without a tough outer shell.

The exterior characteristics of the snail and the squid are distinct from each other. However, all have coelomatous body plans and highly developed body systems such as the digestive system, the circulatory system, the respiratory system and the nervous system.

Conclusion

Thus, though mollusks include many species, they have some common body structure including mantle, head, digestive system, circulatory system, radula, etc.