Limpets: (Patellogastropoda)
- Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropod
- some live in freshwater but majority live in marine
- live in intertidal zone on hard surfaces
- simple shell in conical shape (dish shaped)
- up to 10 cm
- herbivores
- bilateral symmetry
- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/cgi-bin/paint/aTaiEsfawusfawElfaNZlfT0wta/subjects/invertebrates/mollusk/gastropod/Limpet.shtml
Bar Clam: (Spisula solidissima)
- 4-8 inches
- Gulf of St. Lawrence to South Carolina
- oval shell
- yellowish white
- habitat- marine depth range- 8-66 m
Periwinkles: (Littorinidae)
- around 4 cm
- usually dark gray
- 80 species, 10 are known from the western Atlantic
- opaque and dull shell
Oyster: (Crassostrea virginica)
- found in many salt water environments but more commonly found in more temperate regions where the shallows are richer with nutrients
- 3-15 cm long
- weight 50-200 g
- their shells are often made up of calcium
- http://a-z-animals.com/animals/oyster/
Mussel- (Mytilus edulis)
- 10,000 species
- bivalvia
- habitat- mussel beds along the sea floor
- blue/black shell color
- shell about 10cm
- feed by filtration (eat plankton)
- used for food by humans
- shell is gray/white with black rings
- inhabit mud flats and estuaries along the eastern seaboard from Canada to Florida
- motile
- filters water in and out absorbing plankton bacteria and oxygen (filter feeders)
- common predators- sea stars, whelks, birds, some fish, crabs, snails and humans.
- burrows just below the inter-tidal and sub-tidal
- males release sperm and females release eggs through ex-current siphons into the bay, fertilization occurs when they unite
- human uses: food
Soft Shelled Clam-(Mya arenaria)
- chalky white to dark grey
- habitat- burrowed in sandy or muddy bottoms of bays and estuaries
- up to 4 inches long, oval shaped
- motile
- predators- moon snails, digging fish, sea robins, blue crabs, humans
- filter feeders
- reproduce- same way as quahogs
Common Atlantic Slipper Snail (Crepidula fornicata)
- Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda
- size of 20-50mm
- arched, round shell
- usually found intertidally, infralittoral and circalittoral
- eat plankton and detritus food through suspension feeding
- hermaphrodites (males will become female when females die)
- color: white to gray