Gastropod dictionary definition | gastropod defined

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gastropod

[gas′trō päd′]

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noun

any of a large class (Gastropoda) of mollusks having one-piece, straight or spiral shells, as snails, limpets, etc., or having no shells or greatly reduced shells, as certain slugs: most gastropods move by means of a broad, muscular, ventral foot

Origin of gastropod

; from Modern Latin Gastropoda ; from gastro- + -pod

Related Forms:

gastropodan
adjective
or gastropodous

gastropod

noun

Any of numerous mollusks of the class Gastropoda, characteristically having a single, usually coiled shell or no shell at all, a ventral muscular foot, and eyes and tentacles located on a distinct head, and including the snails, slugs, cowries, and limpets.

Origin of gastropod

From New Latin Gastropoda, class name : gastro– + -poda, -pod.

Related Forms:

gas′tro·pod′
adjective

gastropod

Noun

(plural gastropods)

Any member of a class of mollusks (Gastropoda) that includes snails and slugs; univalve mollusk.

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In a dextral Gastropod the shell is coiled in a right-handed spiral from apex to mouth, and the spiral also projects to the right of the median plane of the animal.
The problem of the causes of the torsion of the Gastropod body has been much discussed.
- Four stages in the development of a Gastropod showing the process of body torsion.
The " introvert " in these Gastropods is not the pharynx The ctenidium is monopectinate and attached to the mantle along as in the Chaetopod worms, but a prae-oral structure, its apical limit being formed by the true lips and jaws, whilst the apical limit of the Chaetopod's introvert is formed by the jaws placed at the junction of pharynx and oesophagus, so that the Chaetopod's introvert is part of the stomodaeum or fore-gut, whilst that of the Gastropod is external to the alimentary canal altogether, being in front of the mouth, not behind it, as is the Chaetopod's.
As in all such introand e-versible organs, eversion of the Gastropod proboscis is effected by pressure communicated by the muscular body-wall to the liquid contents (blood) of the body-space, accompanied by the relaxation of the muscles which directly pull upon either the sides or the apex of the tubular organ.

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