Mollusc common names

thumb|Helix pomatia sealed in its shell with a [[calcareous epiphragm]]

A squid () is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting these criteria). Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin.

thumb|Mixed seafood in Dubai; oysters are at the edge of the tray Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.

thumb|A slug on a wall in Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa, [[Japan.]]

Clam is a common name for several species of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America.

Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, this common name is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families within the superfamily Pectinoidea, which also includes the thorny oysters.

family of molluscs

thumb|Cowrie (Ovatipsa chinensis|Cypraea chinensis) with fully extended mantle thumb|Shells of various species of cowrie; all but one have their anterior ends pointing towards the top of this image.

common name for snails that normally live in saltwater

Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.

thumb|Apertural view of an adult queen conch Aliger gigas with the foot, eyes and snout visible thumb|A shell of a dead Florida crown conch Melongena corona inhabited by a [[hermit crab]]

group of marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs

thumb|The true limpet species [[Patella vulgata on a rock surface in Wales]] thumb|Underside of a Patella vulgata specimen

Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen aulón), in singular "an abalone", are sea snails in the genus Haliotis, the only genus in the family Haliotidae. Abalone shells are distinctive for their flattened, ear-like shape, nacreous interior, and row of holes used for respiration. The flesh of abalone is widely considered to be a delicacy, and is consumed raw or cooked by a variety of cuisines. Abalone are globally distributed, with approximately 70 known species alive today. Though some species are small, the largest abalone can attain a length of .

thumb|Ventral view of the shell of Haliotis iris. Pāua is the Māori name given to four New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, Haliotis).

gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water

thumbnail|Several different species of large whelks in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks, on sale at a [[fish market in Japan]] thumb|A whelk at Miller's Point, Western Cape|Miller's Point near [[Cape Town]]

mollusc