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Sea snails are slow-moving marine , usually with visible external shells, such as or . They share the taxonomic class with , which are distinguished from primarily by the absence of a visible .


Definition
Determining whether some gastropods should be called sea snails is not always easy. Some species that live in (such as certain ) can be listed as either freshwater snails or marine snails, and some species that live at or just above the level (for example, species in the genus Truncatella) are sometimes considered to be sea snails and sometimes listed as .


Anatomy
Sea snails are a very large and diverse group of animals. Most snails that live in respire using a or gills; a few species, though, have a lung, are , and are active only at low tide when they can move around in the air. These air-breathing species include false limpets in the family and another group of false limpets in the family .

Many, but not all, sea snails have an operculum.


Shell
The shells of most species of sea snails are spirally coiled. Some, though, have conical shells, and these are often referred to by the common name of . In one unusual family (), the shell of the snail has become two hinged plates closely resembling those of a ; this family is sometimes called the "bivalved gastropods".

Their shells are found in a variety of shapes and sizes, but are normally very small. Those living species of sea snails range in size from , the largest living shelled gastropod species at , to minute species whose shells are less than 1 mm at adult size. Because the shells of sea snails are strong and durable in many cases, as a group they are well represented in the .

The are complex and grow at different speeds. The speed of growth is affected by a few variables such as the temperature of the water, depth of the water, food present for the snail, as well as isotopic oxygen levels. By looking at the composition of in the growth layers of you can predict the size the mollusk shell can reach.


Taxonomy

2005 taxonomy
The following is an overview of the main clades of living gastropods based on the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), with taxa that contain saltwater or brackish water species marked in (some of the highlighted taxa consist entirely of marine species, but some of them also contain freshwater or land species.)


Uses

By humans
A number of species of sea snails are harvested in and used by humans for food, including , , , (such as the North American species and the North Atlantic ) and periwinkles including Littorina littorea.

The shells of sea snails are often found washed up on . Because many are attractive and durable, they have been used to make necklaces and other since prehistoric times.

The shells of a few species of large sea snails within the have a thick layer of and have been used as a source of mother of pearl. Historically, the industry relied on these species for a number of years.

Due to high calcium carbonate content, sea snail shells have potential to be used as raw material in the production of lime


By non-human animals
The shells of sea snails are used for protection by many kinds of . A hermit crab carries the shell by grasping the central columella of the shell using claspers on the tip of its abdomen.


See also

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