Natural history

Reproduction and life cycles

Mollusks are primarily of separate sexes, and the reproductive organs (gonads) are simple. Reproduction via an unfertilized gamete (parthenogenesis) is also found among gastropods of the subclass Prosobranchia. Most reproduction, however, is by sexual means. Eggs and sperm are released into the water by members of some (primitive) species, and fertilization occurs there. In prosobranch gastropods, water currents may cause a simple internal fertilization within the mantle cavity, or males may fertilize eggs internally using a muscular penis. Both male and female reproductive organs may be present in one individual (hermaphroditism) in some species, and various groups exhibit different adaptations to this body form. For example, in hermaphroditic bivalves and prosobranch gastropods, male and female gonads are functional at separate times and in rhythmic and consecutive patterns (successive hermaphroditism). Conversely, male and female gonads are functional at the same time (simultaneous hermaphroditism) in solenogasters and many other gastropods.

Fertilization by transfer of capsules containing sperm (spermatophores) typically occurs in cephalopods and some gastropods. In cephalopods, transfer of spermatophores is usually combined with copulation by a modified arm, or hectocotylus. Copulation in solenogasters, often by means of a special genital cone, may be supported by copulatory stylets. Various penis formations, in part with copulatory stylets, or darts, are widely found in gastropods.

Eggs are deposited singly or in groups, generally on some hard surface and often within jelly masses or leathery capsules. Squids of the suborder Oegopsida and some gastropods have eggs that are suspended in the water. Fertilized eggs commonly undergo spiral cleavage, as in annelids and a number of other “protostome” phyla. The eggs of cephalopods, on the other hand, possess a large amount of yolk, which displaces the dividing cells and causes a characteristic type of development.

Many mollusks develop into free-swimming larvae; these larvae are either feeding (planktotrophic) or nonfeeding (lecithotrophic). The larva in primitive bivalves is a pericalymma (test cell) larva in which the embryo is protected below a covering (test) of cells provided with one to four girdles of cilia, at the apex of which is a sensory plate of ciliated cells. After the developing juvenile has grown out apically of the test (which then is lost), the animal settles and develops into an adult. The test in other lecithotrophic larvae is restricted to a preoral girdle of ciliated cells (the prototrochus) and is called the trochophore larva. Trochophores are encountered in the development of many marine annelid species (phylum Annelida). In more advanced mollusks (such as in marine gastropods and bivalves), the trochophore larva develops into a veliger larva. In these generally planktotrophic larvae, the girdle of ciliated cells widens to form a velum that entraps food and also propels the microscopic mollusk through the water. As the larva continues to develop, the shell, mantle cavity, tentacles, and foot appear. After a specific amount of time, which varies according to species and environmental conditions, the larva loses the velum and metamorphoses into an adult. A substantial change in shell morphology usually marks the transition to adult form.

Secondary (newly evolved) larvae have developed among some freshwater bivalves and some cephalopods. Maternal protection of the developing eggs (brood) is not unexceptional behaviour in solenogasters, bivalves, and certain gastropod adults. Direct development without a larval stage or the bearing of live young from a yolky egg, or both, are typical in cephalopods and most nonmarine (and many marine) gastropods. Many species go through two breeding seasons per year, whereas in some cephalopod species mating or egg laying appears to be rapidly followed by death effected by hormones.

Habitats, feeding habits, and associations

Caudofoveates (subclass Chaetodermomorpha, class Aplacophora) burrow in muddy sediments at depths of 10 to more than 7,000 metres (33 to 23,000 feet) and consume microorganisms and loose organic material (detritus). In contrast, solenogasters (subclass Neomeniamorpha, class Aplacophora) prey on some members of the class Cnidaria (e.g., hydroids and corals) in five to 6,850 metres of water, on clay or muddy sand, or directly upon hydroid or coral colonies. Chitons (class Polyplacophora) cling to hard bottoms of the intertidal zone, scraping algae from the rock surfaces by using their strong rasping teeth (radula); several members of the polyplacophoran family Lepidopleuridae consume detritus found at depths down to 7,000 metres, and Hanleyidae as well as Hopaliidae even depend on animal food. The few extant members of the class Monoplacophora inhabit secondary hard bottoms at depths of 175 to 6,500 metres and capture detritus by means of head appendages (velum) around the mouth. The scaphopods dwell in sand or sandy mud down to 7,000 metres and nourish themselves on protozoa, crustaceans, or small mollusks captured by the filamentous head tentacles (captacula). Except for the carnivorous septibranch anomalodermata, all bivalves are ciliary suspension feeders, using food-sorting organs near the mouth (labial palps) and respiratory gills modified to assist in feeding (ctenidia). Found in marine and fresh water, most bivalves burrow into sediments to depths of 10,700 metres or attach themselves to hard surfaces by means of tough threads secreted by the byssus gland in the foot. The members of some species may even bore into wood or rock. Cephalopods are generally carnivores, feeding on crustaceans and fishes, but some have adapted a microvorous diet of detritus and microscopic organisms and plants. Some cephalopods are offshore (pelagic) jet swimmers, moving from the surface to depths of 5,400 metres, while others dwell near the bottom (benthic) at depths of 8,100 metres.

The greatest ecological diversity is shown by the gastropods. The marine members are found from the spring-tide line to deep-sea trenches (10,500 metres deep) and inhabit nearly all possible habitats, even floating weeds. Both shelled and naked gastropods have pelagic members that spend their entire lives swimming in the water; others penetrate marine hot vents or interstices between sand grains. Some gastropods are parasitic, while others are predatory. Freshwater snails also are found in groundwaters and may inhabit hot springs. Widely distributed throughout all terrestrial habitats, various members of the gastropod order Stylommatophora are adapted to certain regions.

Some littoral bivalves, such as Tridacna, as well as some sea slugs, such as Aeolidia, share an obligatory symbiosis with zooxanthellae (a group of algae). Another metabolic association exists between certain bacteria and several bivalves and gastropods of deep-sea hot vents or other sulfide systems. There are several parasitic mollusks.

Locomotion

Mollusks have a wide range of locomotory patterns. Solenogasters and various smaller gastropods glide upon cilia that beat rapidly against a pathway of mucus secretions. This pattern of movement is supported or replaced in larger mollusks by the propulsive waves that run along the surface of the foot and are controlled by the actions of the dorsoventral musculature (Figure 1). Burrowing occurs as an interaction between musculature and the hydrostatic skeleton (see below Internal features); it is performed in caudofoveates and several sea slugs by the whole anterior body but is restricted to the foot in scaphopods, bivalves, and some specialized gastropods.

Various bivalves (e.g., cockles) and snails may perform rapid twists or jumps through violent flexion of the foot. Buoyancy floating and jet propulsion are found in cephalopods; floating is also known in gastropods, and swimming of a different kind is practiced by some opisthobranch and prosobranch gastropods as well as in scallops and related bivalves. Octopods use their arms to crawl or even to swim or float with the help of the body skin interconnecting the arms (interbrachiate web). Some bivalve groups bore into hard surfaces by secreting strong chemicals that dissolve the substrate or by drilling, using the shell and radula. A sedentary (sessile) way of life has been adopted by many bivalves and some gastropods.