Abbreviations used;
AS       =          Anglo-Saxon
Fr        =          French
Gr        =          Greek
L          =          Latin

Aberrant  ab-er’rant (L ab=from; erro=wonder)  deviating from the usual type of its group; abnormal; wandering; straying; different

adapt: to develop and change in order to survive in a particular habitat

Adductor  ad-duc’tor  (L ad=to; ducere=to lead)  A muscle which draws a structure towards the medial line.  The major muscles (usually two in number) of the bivalves, which are used to close the shell.

Anterior   an-te’ri-or (L ante=before)   situated in front, in lower animals relatively nearer the head

Aperture   ap’er-ture (L apertures=an opening)   the opening in a gastropod shell; an open passage, orifice, hole.

Apex   a’pex (L apex=the tip, summit)   the highest point of anything.  Tip, vertex, peak, the tip of the spire of a gastropod and generally consists of the embryonic shell.

Aquatic   a-quat’ic (L aqua=water)   pertaining to living in, growing in or adapted to the water

Articulated   ar-tic’u-lated (L articulatus=jointed)   the union forming a joint as the interlocking teeth of the hinge plate in bivalves

Asymmetrical   as-ym-met’ri-cal (Gr a=priv.; syn=with; metron=measure)   not even on both sides of an axis, bilaterally uneven, lack of symmetry

Beak   (L beccus=a beak)  the rounded or pointed extremity (umbo) of a bivalve shell at which it began to grow. (oldest part of the valve)

Biodiversity: the entire variety of life on earth

Bivalve   bi-valve  (L bi=two;  valva=door)   any mollusc having two valves or shells that are hinged together, as in mussels and clams.

Branchiae   (Gr Branchia=gills)  gills; respiratory organs for breathing the oxygen dissolved in water.

Branchial   (GR branchia=gills)  The ventral or inhalent aperture.  Used to take in food particles and oxygen and to release fertilized eggs.

Buccal   buc’cal  (L bucca=the cheek)   pertaining to the mouth or cheek

Buccal mass  a bulging; tongue-like object, made up of cartilage and muscle, which supports the radula

Byssal   a small opening or notch on the ventral margin for the passage of the byssus

Byssus   bys’sus (Gr Byssos=a fine flax)  The fine fibers, or bundle of silky threads secreted by a gland found in the foot of some bivalves by which they attach themselves permanently to rocks or other solid objects.

Calcareous   cal-ca’re-ous (L calyx=lime)   composed of, containing, or by the nature of limestone or calcium carbonate;  a shelly substance. Cephalic   ceph-al’ic (Gr Kephale=head)   of, pertaining to, on, in, or near the head

Cephalopoda   Ceph-a-lop’o-da  (Gr  Kaphale=head;  pous=foot)   One of the seven classes of molluscs.  (Squids, octopus, Argonaut, Spirula.)

Ceras   cer’as  (Gr Keras=horn)  a horn or horn like appendage located on nudibranchs

Chambered   cham’bered  (Gr  Kamara=anything with an arched cover)   having divisions across the hollow of the shell, separating or dividing the same into chambers.  (as in the Nautilus)

Chiton   chi’ton (Gr Chiton=tunic)   the coat-of-mail shells (Polyplacophora) .  They possess a shell made up of eight shell plates.

Cilium (plural Cilia)   (L cilium=eyelid)  A hair-like extension from the cell surface and capable of rhythmic movement.  Used to designate the filaments on the mantle, in the gills, etc.

Coelom   coe’lom (Gr Koilos=a hollow)  body cavity, that space between the viscera and the body wall.

Columella   col-u-mel’la  (L columen=column)   The thickened axial pillar around which the whorls of univalves are built.

Conch   (Lconcha=shell)  a trumpet shell; a large marine molluscs with a univalve shell

Conchiolin      con-chi’ol-in (L concha=shell)  organic compound forming the thin outer layer of Molluscan shells.

Conchology   con-chol’o-gy   (L   concha=shell)  The branch of zoology that embraces the arrangement and description of molluscs based upon a study of the hard parts.   Conchologist:  a student of conchology; a collector of shells.

Crop   (AS cropp=craw)    a widened part of the esophagus where food may be temporarily stored before being passed on to the stomach

Ctenidium   cten-id’I-um  (Gr Kteis=comb)  a gill-comb.  One of the respiratory organs found in molluscs.   Plural is ctenidia

Deforestation: the disappearance of all the trees from a particular area

Detorsion   de-tor’sion  (L de=away; torques=twist)   the act of twisting back or removing torsion;  unwinding

Detritus   de-tri’tus  (L detritus=a rubbing away)  a mass of disintegrated material composed of bits of sea weed and other organic wastes found on the ocean floor

Deviate   de’vi-ate  (L de=from;  via=away)  To turn aside from the straight or regular coarse.

Dextral   dex’tral  (L dexter=to the right)   Having the aperture on the right side of the shell when the apex is upwards and the aperture is facing you.  The whorls spiral in a clock-wise manner.

Dioecious   di-oe’cious  (Gr Di=two; oikos=house)   having the male and female present in different individuals.   ( an individual is either male or female but never both). Opposed to monoecious

Distal   dis’tal   (L  di=apart; sto=stand)  relatively remote from the center of the body or point of attachment.  Away from the center of origin, the farthest part from an object.

Dorsal   dor’sal  (L dorsum=the back)  referring to the  back edge or top of a bivalve, in the region of the hinge.  The back of a gastropod remote from the aperture;  The conical top surface of a limpet

Ectoparasite   ec-to-par’a-site  l A parasite living on the outside of another organism  (think of a flea living on a dog)

Endangered: in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future

Environment: all the living and nonliving things that surround and affect an animal or plant

Esophagus   e-soph’a-gus  (Gr  Oisophagos= the gullet)   A membranous tube or canal through which masticated food or drink passes from the pharynx to the stomach

Estivate   es’ti-vate  (L aestivare=to spend the summer)   to pass the summer in a state of topor;  the dormancy in the summer of some lank snails.

Exhalent   ex-ha’lant  (L  ex=out; halo=breathe)  having the quality of exhaling or evaporating.   Exhalent siphon   a short outlet formed of a fold of mantle through which water and other wastes are expelled.

Exotic species: foreign species that have been introduced into a new habitat

Extinct: no longer existing or living

Extinction: the complete disappearance of an animal or plant species

Feces   fe-ces  (L faex=dregs)   the alimentary refuse ejected from the anus

Foot  The muscular locomotory, undersurface of the body of a mollusc upon which the animal rests or moves.  In bivalves, the contraction and expansion of this organ is used in the burrowing, locomotion, or for anchoring the animal.  In the cephalopods, it is represented by the siphon and possibly the tentacles.

Gastropoda   gas’trop’o-da  (Gr Gaster-stomach;  pous=foot)  A class of molluscs.  Scientific term for the univalves with the stomach situated in the region of the foot, shell is in one piece and usually spirally coiled and is asymmetrical.

Gill  (ME gile=a gill)  or Ctenidium.  A large sheet-like organ used for breathing the air dissolved in the water.  In bivalves they also play the role of food collecting. The respiratory organ of molluscs.

Girdle   gir’dle  (AS gyrdel=a girdle)   A flexible, leathery, muscular integument holding the valves of chitons in place.  It is often ornamented with scales, spicules, or hairy processes.

Pollution: the dirtying or spoiling of air, land, or water

Population: the number members of a species living in a particular area

Prey: to hunt for and take by force

Range: the geographical area naturally occupied by an animal or plant species

Regenerate: to replace lost or damaged parts by growth

Reintroduction: to place members of a species in their original habitat