Taxa

Mollusca

Phylum

Citation Formats

General Reference

Nature Atlas. "Mollusca." Accessed September 8, 2026. https://nature.interactiveatlas.org/taxa/phylum-mollusca.

APA Style

Nature Atlas. (n.d.). Mollusca. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://nature.interactiveatlas.org/taxa/phylum-mollusca

BibTeX

@misc{natureatlas-mollusca,
  author = {Nature Atlas},
  title = {Mollusca},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://nature.interactiveatlas.org/taxa/phylum-mollusca},
  note = {Accessed September 8, 2026}
}

A phylum of soft-bodied invertebrates, most with a hard calcium-carbonate shell, a muscular foot, and a mantle enclosing the internal organs. Mollusca ranges from snails and slugs to clams and oysters to the highly intelligent, shell-less cephalopods such as octopuses and squid.

Facts

Disputed

Member Species/Taxa Count

85,000 1

Approximate described-species (or, for a genus, described-taxon) count; continually revised as species are newly described, reclassified or synonymized.

Taxonomic Rank

Phylum / Division 1

Scientific Name

Mollusca 1

Cross-Tradition Connections