Category Archives: Molluscs

Atlantic Ribbed Mussel

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While checking out a tiny cove in Rye, New York, I came across several examples of this bivalve that lives in low, regularly flooded marshes and mud flats.

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The Atlantic Ribbed Mussel grows 2 to 4 inches in length. Its glossy, oval, grooved shell varies in color from olive or yellowish-brown to black. The shell’s interior is iridescent blue to silvery white.

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These creatures are are filter feeders. During high tide, they open their shells slightly to draw in water, filtering out algae and other particles.

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They attach themselves to rocks and other surfaces and clumps of mussels can be found half-buried in the mud among marsh grasses.

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Mussels perform an important environmental function of filtering water entering marshes during each tidal cycle. This helps clean and clarify the water.

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An Atlantic Ribbed Mussel’s age can be determined by counting dark growth rings on the shell. Mussels typically live 10 – 15 years, but more advanced ages are not uncommon.

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Yellow-soled Slug

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Also known by its common name the “Garden Slug,” “Small Striped Slug” or “Black Field Slug,” this species is small (about 1 inch). The “Yellow-soled” part of its name comes from its colorful foot.

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This creature lives in gardens, fields, pastures and similar habitat and consumes agriculturally important crops; it often inhabits disturbed sites like roadsides.

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Their food is eaten by means of a rasping tongue known as a radula. Slugs are related to snails; in this species the shell is reduced to a group of calcareous granules below the mantle, which appears as a bulge on front part of the animal.

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Yellow-soled Slugs emerge at night and spend the day in moist places beneath stones, logs and other objects. Although not a favorite of many people, I didn’t mind coming across this little creature on a warm Winter’s day.

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Leopard Slug

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The Latin name for this creature is Limax maximus, which literally means “biggest slug.” It is also known by the common name Great Grey Slug. Although I occasionally see them in my home state of Ohio, I saw quite a few while visiting southern Illinois.

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Adults measure 4 to 8 inches in length and are usually a light grey or grey-brown with darker spots and blotches, although their coloration and patterning is quite variable. Although native to Europe, this species has been accidentally introduced to many other parts of the world.

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It makes its home in forests, but is often also found in cellars and in cultivated areas. Leopard Slugs are mainly active at night, though they may also be seen in daytime during wet, warm and overcast weather. During the day they hide under stones, logs and in dark wall crevices.

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Leopard Slugs don’t tend damage living plants, but instead eat other slugs, including species that can damage garden plants and vegetables. They also eat dead and rotting plants along with fungi and this recycles nutrients and fertilizes the soil.

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All slugs are slimy, but this species is especially so, giving it a highly unappealing and defense against predators.

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Brown Garden Snail

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This creature was introduced to California in the 1850s as a source of escargot. This species is native to the Mediterranean region and has adapted well to the Golden State.

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Brown Garden Snails live in habitats like gardens and parks made by man, as well as in coastal dunes and brushland. The Brown Garden Snail is a herbivore and feeds on a wide variety of plants. Most land snails are nocturnal, but after a rain storm they may come out of their hiding places during the day. They move with a gliding motion by means of a long flat muscular organ called a foot.

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The head bears four tentacles, the upper two of which have eye-like light sensors, and the lower two of which are smaller, are used for touch and smell. The tentacles can be retracted into the head. The mouth is located beneath the tentacles, and contains a rasp-like structure which the snail uses to scrape up food particles.

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Mucus, constantly secreted by glands in the foot, which facilitates movement and leaves a silvery, slimy trail. The shell may be either yellow or horn-colored with chestnut brown spiral bands which are interrupted by yellow flecks or streaks.

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This species is one of the best-known of all terrestrial molluscs and one of the most widespread land snail species in the world. Transported by humans, today it can be found in Northern America, Southern America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

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Eastern Forest Snail

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Snails are best known for their shell. The shell is made by the snail by a part of the body called the mantle. Snails secrete an acidic material from the sole of their foot that dissolves calcium in the soil and allows its uptake, so the shell can be created.

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Eastern Forest Snails are our most common land snail. They grow a large shell, sometimes over an inch wide. The shell is fairly flat and tan with darker blotches. There is a flared opening leading into the shell.

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They are herbivores, eating living or dead plant material. They are very important for controlling plant populations and breaking down plant materials.

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These snails can move several inches in a minute. They release an orange slime as they crawl. The slime gives them a “cushion” to crawl over. This cushion protects their soft bodies from sharp things. Snails can also use old slime trails as paths back to food or shelter.

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Land snails can be considered one of the many building blocks for the ecosystems in which they reside; providing not only a food source but accessibility to calcium. I enjoy looking at the unique, interesting patterns on their shells.

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Chitons

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I decided to check out these west coast tidal pools today and saw some odd organisms.

The Chiton is a mysterious creature with eight protective shell plates and a muscular foot, which anchors it to a rock. It is impossible to pry it off the rock with your bare hands.

Chitons are generally sluggish and many are nocturnal and remain concealed under rocks during the day. Their food mainly consists of algae scraped off the rocks, but some also consume animal matter. Its shell plates are often broken, but it can repair such breaks. When exposed to air during low tide, a Chiton can breathe oxygen from the atmosphere.

Recently it has been discovered that this armored relative of snails is unique among living animals, because it sees the world through lenses of limestone, and its eyes literally erode as it gets older. Chitons may be the only living animals with rocky eyes of this sort. Another group of extinct oceanic animals – the trilobites – had lenses made from calcite, another form of limestone.

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Banana Slugs

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While exploring the dark, damp redwood forest floor today, it was hard not to notice the vibrant yellow coloration of Banana Slugs. While often bright yellow, they are also sometimes spotted with brown, looking like an overripe banana.

Not only are they colorful, but they are the second largest terrestrial slug in the world, growing up to nearly 10 inches. Here’s a photo of one taken next to a nickel for a size reference.

They use two pairs of feelers to sense their environment. The larger, upper pair, termed “eyestalks,” are used to detect light or movement. The second, lower pair are used to detect chemicals. The tentacles can retract and extend themselves to avoid damage. Slugs have a respiratory hole for breathing on one side (almost always on the right) of their bodies.

Slugs are mollusks and because they don’t live in the water, dehydration is a major problem for them. For this reason they secrete protective slime to keep from losing water. 

Some people regard slugs as slimy, disgusting garden pests. But not everyone sees them that way. UC Santa Cruz has adopted the banana slug as their mascot. The students’ embrace of such a lowly creature was their response to the fierce athletic competition fostered at most American universities.

By consuming dead organic matter, slugs contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles and are an important aspect of the ecosystem. Here’s a Banana Slug eating a banana peel on a trashcan in a State Park.

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