The class Gastropoda is a diverse and highly successful class of mollusks within the phylum Mollusca. It contains a vast total of named species, second only to the insects in overall number. The fossil history of this class goes back to the Late Cambrian.

Mar 10, 2025 · Gastropod, any member of more than 65,000 animal species belonging to the class Gastropoda, the largest group in the phylum Mollusca. The class is made up of the snails, which have a shell into which the animal can withdraw, and the slugs, which are snails whose shells have been reduced to an internal fragment or lost.

Sep 16, 2021 · Gastropods are the second largest class of animals (after the Insecta)—with 40,000–90,000 living species and at least 13,000 extant and fossil genera (Ponder and Lindberg, 2020)—and are also one of the most evolutionarily successful groups in the variety of ecosystems and habitats that they occupy.

Sep 11, 2024 · Gastropods are members of the class Gastropoda, a highly broad group of mollusks that includes snails and slugs. They have a visceral hump, mantle, muscular foot, eyes, tentacles, and a specialized feeding organ called the radula, composed of many tiny teeth.

Jan 29, 2025 · Gastropods (class Gastropoda) represent the largest and most diverse class of mollusks, encompassing familiar creatures like snails, slugs, limpets, and sea butterflies.

Gas­tropods are by far the largest group of mol­luscs. Their 40,000 species com­prise over 80% of liv­ing mol­luscs. Gas­tro­pod feed­ing habits are ex­tremely var­ied, al­though most species make use of a radula in some as­pect of their feed­ing be­hav­ior.

Mar 10, 2025 · Class Gastropoda (snails and slugs) Snails typically with a calcareous shell, slugs with greatly reduced shell; length ranges from about 1 mm to 130 cm; more than 65,000 species widely distributed in marine, freshwater, and land regions.

Jan 19, 2018 · Gastropods (Gastropoda) are a highly diverse group of mollusks that include between 60,000 and 80,000 living species. Gastropods account for nearly 80 percent of all living mollusks.

May 21, 2017 · Gastropods are animals in the Class Gastropoda - the group of organisms that includes snails, slugs, limpets and sea hares. There are over 40,000 species in this class. Envision a sea shell, and you're thinking about a gastropod, although this class contains many shell-less animals as well.

gastropod, Any member of the class Gastropoda, the largest group of mollusks, including about 65,000 species. Gastropods, which include the snails, conchs, whelks, limpets, periwinkles, abalones, slugs, and sea slugs ( see nudibranch), are found worldwide, in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments.