Record Details

Gastropod classification and taxonomy

CMFRI Repository

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Relation http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/10412/
 
Title Gastropod classification and
taxonomy
 
Creator Venkatesan, V
Mohamed, K S
 
Subject Taxonomy
Gastropods
 
Description Gastropods are a large and highly diversified class within
the phylum Mollusca. Many gastropods possess a shell
whereas some are without shells. The shelled gastropods
are also called univalves. Some of these gastropods are
terrestrial while other gastropods live in marine or freshwater
habitat. There are approximately 85,000 - 100000 described
species of molluscs (Strong et al., 2008) found throughout
the world from the garden to deep-water hydrothermal
vent colonies. Current estimates place the total number of
molluscs including undescribed species as high as 240,000
species (Appeltan et al., 2011). Gastropods encompass 80
% of living molluscs species. In the conventional division of
subclass, recognized species of prosobranchs (largely marine,
but with terrestrial and freshwater representatives) formed 53
% followed by pulmonates (43% - terrestrial and freshwater,
few marine littoral) and opisthobranchs (4% - marine) (Boss,
1971). Gastropods are considered as the oldest known fossils
with their shells being evolved in rocks 540 million years
ago. Many of the today’s gastropod species have continued
unaltered for over 350 million years.
 
Publisher CMFRI; Kochi
 
Date 2015
 
Type Teaching Resource
NonPeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/10412/1/07_V._Venkatesan2.pdf
Venkatesan, V and Mohamed, K S (2015) Gastropod classification and taxonomy. [Teaching Resource]