Mollusks have a muscular foot, which is used for locomotion and anchorage, and varies in shape and function, depending on the type of mollusk under study. In shelled mollusks, this foot is usually the same size as the opening of the shell. The foot is a retractable as well as an extendable organ.
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What does the foot do in most mollusks like the abalone?
The abalone demonstrates the basic body plan of molluscs. A foot is used for movement. A radula is a scraping tongue, and a mantle secretes the shell.
What is the foot of a bivalve used for?
As filter feeders, bivalves gather food through their gills. Some bivalves have a pointed, retractable “foot” that protrudes from the shell and digs into the surrounding sediment, effectively enabling the creature to move or burrow.
How does the foot of a bivalve differ from the foot of a cephalopod or the foot of a snail?
The foot of the bivalve is one singular mass. Its main purpose is for burrowing or digging. The cephalopod foot is made up of tentacle and sucker like structure that are used for locomotion as well as for hunting prey. The snail foot is also one singular mass but is used mainly for crawling like movements.
Which of the following is a mollusk with a foot modified to form arms or tentacles?
Cephalopods. Cephalopods include the octopus and squid. They have a prominent head and a well-developed brain. Typically the foot has been modified into a set of arms or tentacles.
What is one biomechanical feat of the mollusk foot?
What is one biomechanical feat of the mollusk foot? There are no bones so it can stretch out to crawl while holding on at the same time. What does the abalone do when the sea star catches up to it?
Do mollusks have jointed appendages?
Phylum Molluska and Phylum Arthropoda are two major phyla of the Kingdom Animalia. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals with a shell while arthropods are animals with segmented bodies. They also have paired jointed appendages and an exoskeleton. … Thus, this summarizes the difference between mollusks and arthropods.
How are mollusks segmented?
Mollusks are probably most closely related to organisms in the phylum Annelida, also known as segmented worms. … Unlike segmented worms, however, mollusks do not have body segmentation. The basic mollusk body shape is usually quite different as well.
What is the foot used for in gastropods bivalves and cephalopods?
highly muscular organ called the foot, through which muscle fibres run in all directions. The foot of a gastropod is a flat structure used for crawling. Waves of muscular contraction travel along its length, moving the animal slowly over the ground. The foot of a bivalve mollusk is a bulbous…
What is the foot of a cephalopod?
The name cephalopod, in Greek, means “head foot.” This name was applied because the foot of the organism is around the head. But cephalopods lack a traditional foot, instead having between eight and ten tentacles attached to their heads.
What is the function of the clams foot?
The clam’s foot is used to dig down into the sand, and a pair of long incurrent and excurrent siphons that extrude from the clam’s mantle out the side of the shell reach up to the water above (only the exit points for the siphons are shown).
How does a clam use its foot for movement?
Clams have the most control of their movement using their foot. … For this reason, the foot is strongest at digging, which allows a clam to submerge itself safely out of harm’s way. Aside from digging into the sand, most clams then move by using water currents, which allows them to move from one region to the other.
What do gastropods use their foot for?
Like all other mollusks, gastropods have a foot, which in their case is used for movement. This foot is located underneath the entire length of the body, allowing the gastropod to slowly creep along the surface.
Which organism uses muscular foot as its Locomotory organ?
snail
Therefore, it can be said that the locomotory organ of the snail is a muscular foot. Muscular rings are generally present in earthworms. The body of an earthworm is divided into many segments.
Which of the following does a mollusk use for movement?
Most mollusks move with a muscular structure called a foot. The feet of different kinds of mollusks are adapted for different uses, like crawling, digging, or catching prey. Many mollusks have an organ called a radula (RAD you lah), which is a flexible ribbon of tiny teeth.
How do molluscs demonstrate adaptive radiation?
Mollusks provide a clear example of adaptive radiation. Adaptive radiation is the process by which closely related organisms gradually evolve in different directions in order to take advantage of specialized parts of the environment. The gastropods and bivalves were originally marine organisms, living in salt water.
Where are the palps found and what is their function?
where are the palps found and what is their function? They are anterior to the gills and ventral to the anderior adductor muscle. They are flaplike structures that surround and guide food into the clam’s mouth. Describe the movement of the food through the current siphon through the digestive system of the clam.
What is one defense of a mollusk?
In many gastropods, slippery mucus is secreted from mantle extensions, or parapodia, as a defense against larger predators, such as sea stars (starfish). … Some mollusks secrete fluids to divert or frighten a predator, to provide camouflage, or to inhibit the predator’s sense of smell.
How do molluscs breathe?
Mollusks have a coelom and a complete digestive system. … Aquatic mollusks “breathe” under water with gills. Gills are thin filaments that absorb gases and exchange them between the blood and surrounding water. Mollusks have a circulatory system with one or two hearts that pump blood.
What is mantle cavity in molluscs?
The mantle cavity is a central feature of molluscan biology. This cavity is formed by the mantle skirt, a double fold of mantle which encloses a water space. This space contains the mollusk’s gills, anus, osphradium, nephridiopores, and gonopores. The mantle cavity functions as a respiratory chamber in most mollusks.
Do mollusks molt?
Growth and Molting
Mollusks and arthropods both have tough chitinous exoskeletons. … A crab undergoing the process of ecdysis, or molting. During molting, a new cuticle begins to form beneath the old cuticle. As this proceeds, the old cuticle detaches and eventually is completely separated from the organism.
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