How do clams and bivalves vary from other mollusks?
The mollusks that have a hinged, two-part shell joined by strong muscles are called bivalves. Clams, Oysters, and Scallops are bivalve mollusks and are a familiar food source. While on the other hand Mussels and Oysters attach themselves with a strong thread or cement to solid surfaces.
What are the 5 groups of bivalves?
Bivalves as a group have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders.
Why are bivalves the only mollusks that reproduce through broadcast spawning?
Bivalve molluscs are broadcast spawners, which means their eggs are fertilized outside their bodies. Males and females release their gametes through their excurrent siphon, and the eggs are fertilized in the open water.
What is the largest group of mollusks?
gastropods
The three major groups of mollusks are gastropods, bivalves, and cephalopods (SEF ul o pods). The largest group is the gastropods. These are mollusks like snails and slugs that have just one shell or no shell at all.
What organisms are bivalves?
Bivalves: Phylum Mollusca, Class Bivalvia. Clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops are members to the class Bivalvia (or Pelecypodia). Bivalves have two shells, connected by a flexible ligament, which encase and shield the soft vulnerable parts of the creature.
How do bivalves reproduce?
Marine bivalves reproduce by releasing prodigious numbers of eggs and sperm into the water, where external fertilization occurs. The fertilized eggs then float in the surface plankton. Within 48 hours after fertilization, the embryo develops into a minute, planktonic, trochophore larvae.
What are 4 examples of bivalves?
A bivalve is an animal that has two hinged shells, which are called valves. All bivalves are mollusks. Examples of bivalves are clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops. Bivalves are found in both freshwater and marine environments.
What kind of animal is a bivalve mollusk?
Bivalves are Mollusks. The phylum MolluscaMollusca: The phylum of the animal kingdom, including the classes Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Scaphopoda, Polyplacophora, Monoplacophora, Caudofoveata, and Solenogastres.
What kind of mollusk has a foot and head?
A mollusk with a univalve shell typically has a foot and head that live inside the shell, and can extend or retract outside or inside the shell. Univalves can live in the water or outside the water. Examples of univalves include periwinkles, snails, abalone, and conchs. Bivalves consist of two shells.
What’s the difference between a UniValve and a bivalve?
Bivalves consist of two shells. Unlike the univalve type of mollusk, the bivalves generally do not have a head, just the body that resides in between the two shells that open and close at will, usually to feed. Some have a very long foot that either digs or attaches itself onto things.
How does a bivalve fish get its food?
A roughfile clam from the Flower Garden Bank National Marine Sanctuary—just one of many different bivalve mollusk species. Like fish, bivalve mollusks breathe through their gills. As filter feeders, bivalves gather food through their gills.