Three Species Examples

The Nudibranch is one example of a Mollusk and it's often referred to as the sea slug.  Its classification is the Berghia Coerulescens.  The Nudibranch's can live in almost any depth of water but they live their best in shallow warm waters.  It sheds its shell after its larval stage and is basically a slug with no shell for the rest of its life.  It has an external gill cluster that allows the animal to breath.  Some believe that it has such bright colors because of the fact that they are trying to warn other animals away from eating them because they will taste bad.  All nudibranchs are carnivorous and eat sponges or hydroids.

Another example of a Mollusk is the Blue-ringed Octopus.  Its binomial nomenclature is Hapalochlaena lunulata.  This animal is considered one of the worlds most venomous marine animals.  The brown patches on the octopus darken when it becomes agitated.  They usually feed on small crabs or shrimp but if they can catch small fish they will eat them also.  They pounce on their food and paralyze it with their venom and then crush there food with their beak and tear of parts of their catch.  The venom in this creature is strong enough to kill humans.  The venom is produced by bacteria in the salivary glands.  If your bit by this creature often you will not know your infected until your dead.

  A final example of Mollusks is the Colossal Squid.  The binomial nomenclature of it is Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni.  They are around 39-46 feet long making them the largest known invertebrate in the world.  The Colossal Squid has suckers lined with small teeth but also sharp hooks so their prey sticks to their arm.  This is different from regular squids because they do not have the sharp hooks.  This creature has the largest eyes of any animal in the animal kingdom.  The Squid lives from Antarctica all the way to the southern tip of South America, South Africa, and New Zealand.  It feeds on large fish and doesn't need that much food a day because it has a really slow metabolism.