The Phylum Mollusca

Introduction to Phylum Mollusca:

The phylum Mollusca is made up of a large group of species that all share certain characteristics:
a muscular "foot" for movement, a sheet of tissue called the mantle surrounding the organism,
(usually) a hard shell secreted by the mantle, sometimes gills for obtaining oxygen from water, a
complete digestive tract, and a coelom, a body cavity formed from solid masses of cells and
within which all organs are contained (the presence of the coelom is significant evolutionarily).
When it has one, the shell of a mollusk is made of calcium carbonate and other minerals, and is
secreted in layers by the mantle. The size of the shell varies from mollusk to molluska, and a few
mollusks (such as slugs) don't have a shell at all. In all, about 150,000 species of the phylum
Mollusca have been classified. Mollusks have adapted to live in a large variety of environments,
although the largest variety live in the sea. See the diagram below for a diagram of an "idealized"
mollusk, containing all of the typical traits of the phylum:

Characteristics, Unique Features, Spatial Distribution and Population

The phylum Mollusca contains some of the
most familiar invertebrates, including snails,
slugs, clams, mussels, and octopuses. In
contrast to these well-known molluscs,
however, others are almost never seen, such
as the aplacophorans and monoplacophorans,
the latter of which were only known from
Paleozoic fossils until the first live specimen
was discovered in the deep sea in 1952.
Except for the aplacophorans, most molluscs
have a well-developed, muscular foot. This
structure is used in a multitude of ways, for
example: locomotion, clinging to surfaces, Anatomy of a Mollusk
burrowing, anchoring in sediment, swimming,
and grasping (modified into prehensile tentacles in octopuses). The vast diversity of foot
adaptations exemplifies the huge morphological diversity of the mollusc form.

A layer of epidermal tissue called the mantle surrounds the body of molluscs. Specialized glands
in the mantle are responsible for the extracellular excretions that form shell structures. In all
molluscan groups the shell is produced in layers of (usually) calcium carbonate, either in calcite
or aragonite form.
Molluscs have adapted to terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats all over the globe, although
most molluscs are marine. Nearly 100,000 mollusc species are known (excluding the large
 number of extinct species known only as fossils) and it is clear that many thousands of species of
extant species remain undescribed. Around 80% of known molluscs are gastropods (snails and
slugs).
Classification of Phylum Mollusca:
The Phylum Mollusca consist of eight classes. The Monoplacophora discovered in 1977. The
worm-like Aplacophora or solenogasters of the deep sea. The also worm-like Caudofoveata. The
Polyplacophora, or chitons. The Pelecypoda or bivalves. The Gastropoda or snails. The
Scaphopoda, or tusk shells, and the Cephalopoda that include among others squid and the
octopus.

The thorn shell, Acanthina The Pelecypoda, The polyplacophoran, Chiton

The two-spotted
angelica Pholas chiloensis virgulatus and the sea slug (Class
octopus, Octopus
Gastropoda), Onchidella binneyi.
bimaculatus.

Class Gastropoda which includes Snails

Gastropod fossils have been found in Lower Cambrian rocks and are the
oldest known molluscan fossils. The earliest snails were sea snails from
the now extinct Order Bellerophontina and evidence of a modified limpet-
like shell with 2 whorls shows an early evolution of the moveable shell
that can be rocked forwards over the head Evidence shows these
bellerophontina existed from the Lower Cambrian to the lower Triassic
Periods. It is thought that the first land snail evolved as soon as there were
plants on land- about 350 million years ago- when plants required very wet conditions. Survival
on land meant period of unfavorable conditions with climatic variations affecting the snail whose
body is still largely water. In terrestrial communities, gastropods can achieve reasonably high
diversity and abundance: as many as 60-70 species may coexist in a single habitat and abundance
in leaf litter can exceed more than 500 individuals in four liters of litter.

Class Cephalopoda which includes Octopus

Octopuses seem to have lost their shells independently of the shell
reduction seen in squids. They moderately diverse during the Jurassic
and many of the so-called Jurassic squids are in fact vampyromorphs.
 The Jurassic vampyromorphs had shells with chambers that presumably offered neutral
buoyancy, but later species this function was lost and the shell became uncalcified. Octopuses
diverged from the vampyromorphs during the Late Jurassic (about 140 million years ago). In
some ways octopuses can be thought of as vampyromorphs that have lost their shells more or less
completely.

Sources:
(Websites)
https://www.earthlife.net/inverts/mollusca.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/mollusca.php
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mollusca/classification/
https://factsaboutsnails.com/snail-facts/how-did-the-land-snail-evolve/
http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php

(Journal)
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4c02/5a0a0b256c881dbb48d3e5dae4b0ea64a1db.pdf