MolluscaInvertebrates

Mollusca

મૃદુદેહી

Soft-bodied animals — some have a shell

Mollusc = a soft body. Many have a shell.

Say it like this: mollusc = a soft body, and many have a shell. A garden snail is a mollusc. An octopus is a mollusc too, even with no outside shell.

How do you know it is a mollusca?

Soft body

The animal inside is squishy.

Many have a shell

A snail’s house grows with it.

No backbone

No spine inside.

Often a foot

A snail slides on one big foot.

Animals you may know

Snail

Garden shell

Clam

Two shells

Oyster

Lives in the sea

Octopus

Eight arms, very clever

Squid

Swims in the sea

Slug

Like a snail with no shell

Mussel

Sticks to rocks

Cuttlefish

Can change colour

Try this

After rain, look for a snail on a wall or plant. That spiral house is a mollusc shell!

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