Soft-bodied-so translated from the Latin name of animals that have no spine-shellfish. Soft-does not mean defenseless, most of them are protected by shells. These organisms are more than a hundred thousand species, and they live in salt and fresh water, on land. Their meat is eaten by different birds, mammals, fish, and some species, such as squid, oysters, scallops, mussels, snails, included in the cuisine of different peoples of the world, enriching the diet of people with delicious and nutritious protein food. Mollusks are kept at home as Pets, because their behavior is interesting, and they are often quite beautiful. There are many interesting facts about shellfish.
Peculiar properties
The maximum mass of the mollusk caught by the person was almost 340 kilograms. This giant was caught off the Japanese island of Okinawa in 1956.
The age of some invertebrates reaches one hundred years. They can live much longer than other sea dwellers. Age can be determined by the rings on the shell, the differences between these rings are formed by the difference in water temperature, its oxygen saturation, diet and other factors. The oldest mollusk among those caught by man was more than 400 years old.
The main food of aquatic mollusks is plankton, which they consume by filtering water.
In 1947, rapanov was brought to the Black sea from the sea of Japan on the bottoms of torpedo boats. This predator destroyed a significant part of the populations of mussels, oysters, scallops. Rapana's rapid reproduction is due to the absence of natural predators (such as starfish) that live in their original habitat.
One of the most poisonous species of mollusks-nudibranch, there are more than three thousand species of different sizes - from half a centimeter to 30 centimeters. They are very beautiful, what attract people who have a desire to hand, but after contact from the action of the poison may come off the skin with your hands. These marine inhabitants feed on various inhabitants of ocean waters — anemones, algae, more peaceful mollusks. Beautiful color is due to the fact that their body is painted over with a dye that enters their body with food.
The @ email symbol we call a dog, and in Korea, this sign is called "funny slimachok". This Internet icon looks more like a slug.
In Cuba there is a clam, which is illuminated with short pulses, if it is disturbed. Probably, this behavior should deter predators.
If you put a shell to your ear, you can hear the sound of the sea. This sound is ambient sounds that resonate with the empty space inside the shell. This sound can be achieved with any empty object-for example, with a glass or a bent palm.
The body of the mollusk is largely composed of muscles, so they are very strong in relation to their size. A person with the same force could climb a few tens of meters up the vertical ladder with a load of 500 kilograms.
Bivalvia
Interesting facts about mollusks-bivalves, there are more than three thousand species.
This type of invertebrates is often used in cooking - eat combs, oysters, mussels.
In a world of sedentary mollusks, survival is difficult. Oysters can lay about a million eggs in a season. But because they are deposited directly into the water, they are eaten by predators, so few of them survive, and only a few grow to adulthood.
Despite the fact that the bivalves move a little, in some cases they are activated and can move. For example, combs with quick compression valves can create a small reaction force created by a jet of water to help them escape from the sea stars, their main enemies.
The largest mollusk with two wings — giant tridachna. its mass can exceed three hundred kilograms, the shell reaches the size of two meters. In some countries, similar sinks are used as a baby bath. For example, in the Notre Dame Cathedral of the valves tridachna made the baptismal font for baptism. The shell can be a danger to scuba divers, as its flaps can pinch the diver's hand.
Oysters in our time-one of the most" elite " dishes. But in Western Europe, in countries that had access to the sea, for example in France, England until the half of the XIX century, these mollusks were considered food for bidni. As the population of coastal settlements fully appreciated the taste of these marine life, their population declined sharply, and they rose significantly by the end of the XIX century, thus becoming a delicacy.
Gastropod
More gastropods than other species. They live on the ground (slugs, snails), in warm seas and oceans we can see slugs, anterior gastropods-sea saucers, livers, abalone. The size and appearance are different, but they share one thing-they crawl on the belly, which plays the role of legs.
Gastropod slugs are the most toothy animals in the world — they have about 25 thousand teeth.
The largest mollusk of this type — Syrinx aruanus, the record had a shell size of 80 centimeters, weight reached 18 kilograms. It lives underwater and breathes through its gills.
The record holder among those who live on earth — Achatina fulica, his leg reaches up to 40 centimeters in length, weight-up to one kilogram.
Pollination of a forest plant called spleen (growing in Russia) occurs in slugs and slugs.
Cephalopoda
Interesting facts about nudibranchs. These marine predators (predominantly), among them the most known representatives — squid and octopus. Cephalopods got their name from the fact that if something legs grow straight out of the head, and the body is not visible.
Octopuses have a rectangular pupil.
The octopus, seeing the enemy could be masked — will take the color of the water or of the surface on which it is situated. Can change not only the color but also the texture of the skin.
When escaping, octopuses release a colored ink cloud, which should make it difficult to detect and scare off the pursuer.
In the mouth of an octopus is a poisonous beak, so, in combination with powerful suction cups, large octopuses are dangerous for niryalschikiv, especially when you consider that water — the element of mollusk, and people in the water, and especially under water, is very vulnerable.
The record holder among molluscs, the invertebrate-Architeuthis dux, or giant squid. The length can reach 20 meters (officially registered maximum length-18 meters). His eyes diameter of until 70 centimeters. Lives in Pacific ocean, not far from Bank. First time in historical documents enormous squid mentioned in 1555 year. But all mention of large size this animal were deemed legends, until in 2007 Japanese researchers not was proven existence these large cephalopods-researchers managed do a picture of an giant squid. The largest representative of this species is in a Museum in the UK, its length-nine meters.
Octopuses have developed intelligence-they can distinguish geometric shapes, can get used to a person. Do cleaning in the place where they live-a stream of water wash away the dirt, garbage and waste piled in piles outside their homes.
The Australian ring octopus is the smallest representative of cephalopods, the size of a palm. He is very beautiful — his body is orange and brown, the skin shimmers with rings of blue. When he's scared, he lights up like phosphoric. But it has a very strong poison, which is released when bitten in such quantities that it can kill about seven people. In addition, the poison is very insidious, as its effect can begin as dizziness, but can end in death. The beak is so strong that it can penetrate the shell of a crab.