A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called slugs, and land snails that have only a very small shell are often called semi-slugs.
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters to protect their soft insides. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers. The shells are empty because the animal has died and the soft parts have decomposed or been eaten by another animal.
Gastropods, commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda.
Ocenebrinae is a taxonomic subfamily of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This subfamily is within the large family Muricidae, which are commonly known as the murex and rock snails.
The operculum is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure like a trapdoor that exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails; the structure is found in some marine and freshwater gastropods, and in a minority of terrestrial gastropods, including the families Helicinidae, Cyclophoridae, Aciculidae, Maizaniidae, Pomatiidae, etc.
Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visible shell.
Cone snails, or cones, are highly venomous sea snails of the family Conidae.
The Trochidae, common name top-snails or top-shells, are a family of various sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subclass Vetigastropoda. This family is commonly known as the top-snails because in many species the shell resembles a toy spinning top.
A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small dimensions.
Acanthina, common name the unicorn snails, is a genus of small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs to major rivers. The great majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions. Some groups of snails that live in freshwater respire using gills, whereas other groups need to reach the surface to breathe air. In addition, some are amphibious and have both gills and a lung. Most feed on algae, but many are detritivores and some are filter feeders.
Mitromorpha paucilirata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Mitromorphidae.
Miltromorpha is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Mitromorphidae, in the superfamily Conoidea the cone snails and their allies. This genus was originally described by Carpenter off the west coast of the United States. The species occur mainly on the continental shelf and in insular environments. Their real diversity is poorly understood.
Acanthinucella punctulata, common name: the spotted thorn drupe, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Onoba paucilirata is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Rissoidae.
Onoba is a genus of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Rissoidae.
In the shell of gastropod mollusks, the lip is the free margin of the peristome or aperture of the gastropod shell.
Turbonilla paucilirata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.
Conus is a genus of venomous and predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae. Prior to 2009, it included all cone snail species but is now more precisely defined, as are other cone snail genera.
Terrestrial molluscs or land molluscs (mollusks) are an ecological group that includes all molluscs that live on land in contrast to freshwater and marine molluscs. They probably first occurred in the Carboniferous, arising from freshwater ones.
