Shells A vast range of creatures survive the sea encased in protective armor. Gastropods, such as sea snails, have one outer shell while bivalves, such as oysters, scallops and mussels ...

a mother-to-be holds on to the rocky substrate as water flows over her shell. The animal is about one inch long and protected by a whorled casing that covers her soft body. She is a gastropod ...

To avoid dehydration, gastropods secrete a layer of mucus, or slime, which covers their bodies. While snails have shells to help protect their skin from drying out, slugs must find other ways to ...

Our collection contains specimens belonging to the seven shell-bearing molluscan classes from across their entire geological range. Specimen of the large marine gastropod Voluta muricana showing an ...