Definition of gastropoda Gastropoda

Gas•trop•o•da

We found 4 definitions of gastropoda from 4 different sources.

What does gastropoda mean?

WordNet

Noun
gastropoda - snails and slugs and their relatives
		class Gastropoda, Gasteropoda, class Gasteropoda
		class elegance in dress or behavior; "she has a lot of class"
		mollusca, phylum mollusca gastropods; bivalves; cephalopods; chitons
		gastropod, univalve a class of mollusks typically having a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes
		family haliotidae, haliotidae abalones
		family strombidae, strombidae the family of conchs
		family limacidae, limacidae slugs
		family neritidae, neritidae neritids
		buccinidae, family buccinidae whelks
		cymatiidae, family cymatiidae tritons
		family naticidae, naticidae moonshells
		family littorinidae, littorinidae periwinkles
		limpet any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas
		family patellidae, patellidae marine limpets
		family fissurellidae, fissurellidae marine limpets
		ancylidae, family ancylidae freshwater gastropod
		opisthobranchia, subclass opisthobranchia gastropods having the gills when present posterior to the heart and having no operculum: includes sea slugs; sea butterflies; sea hares
		akeridae, family akeridae bubble shells
		order pulmonata, pulmonata large order of gastropods usually breathing by means of a lung-like sac comprising most land snails and slugs and many freshwater snails
		order pectinibranchia, pectinibranchia large order of gastropods comprising univalve mollusks that have a single gill resembling a comb

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Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

gastropoda (n. pl.)
One of the classes of Mollusca, of great extent. It includes most of the marine spiral shells, and the land and fresh-water snails. They generally creep by means of a flat, muscular disk, or foot, on the ventral side of the body. The head usually bears one or two pairs of tentacles. See Mollusca.

Wikipedia

The gastropods, gasteropods, or univalves, are the largest and most successful class of mollusks. 60,000-75,000 known living species belong to it. Many of them live in marine or freshwater, but many on land too. Some of these species are: snails and slugs, abalone, limpets, cowries and conch. Most of the other animals that produce shells belong to them as well.

Description.

Snails are distinguished by torsion, a process where the body coils to one side during development.

They typically have a well-defined head with two or four sensory tentacles. They also have a ventral, which gives them their name (Greek "gaster", stomach, and "poda", feet). The eyes that may be present at the tip of the tentacles range from simple ocelli that cannot project an image (simply distinguishing light and dark), to more complex pit and even lens eyes. The larval shell of a gastropod is called a protoconch.

Most members have a shell, which is in one piece and typically coiled or spiraled that usually opens on the right hand side (as viewed with the shell apex pointing upward). Several species have an operculum that operates as a trapdoor to close the shell. This is usually made of a horn like material, but in some molluscs it is calcareous. In some members, the slugs, the shell is reduced or absent, and the body is streamlined so its torsion is relatively inconspicuous.

The best-known gastropods are terrestrial, but more than two thirds of all species live in a marine environment. Marine gastropod