Glossary of gastropod terms

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a glossary of common English language and scientific terms used in the description of gastropods.

  • Abapical – away from the apex of a shell toward the base
  • Acephalous – Headless.[1]
  • Acinose – Full of small bulgings; resembling the kernel in a nut.[1]
  • Aculeate – Very sharply pointed, as the teeth on the radula of some snails.[1]
  • Acuminate – gradually tapering to a point, as the spire of some shells.[1]
  • Acute – Sharp or pointed, as the spire of a shell, or the lip of a shell.[1]
  • Adapical – toward the apex of a shell (<--> abapical)
  • Admedian – Next to the central object, as the lateral teeth on the lingual membrane.[1]
  • Adpressed – with overlapping whorls or with a suture tightly pressed to the previous whorl (preferred to the term appressed)
  • Afferent – To bring in; when relating to a vessel or duct, indicating that it brings in its contents.[1]
  • Amoeboid – Shaped like an amoeba, a small animalcule.[1]
  • Amorphous – Without distinct form.[1]
  • Amphibious – Inhabiting both land and water.[1]
  • Amphidetic – With the ligament on both sides of the umbones.[1]
  • Anal canal – Tubular of gutter-like opening in the shell of a gastropod through which excrements are expelled (see also: siphonal canal)
  • Analogue – A likeness between two objects when otherwise they are totally different, as the wing of a bird and the wing of a butterfly.[1]
  • Anastomosing – Coming together.[1]
  • Annular – Made up of rings.[1]
  • Anterior – The front or fore end.[1]
  • Aquatic – Inhabiting the water.[1]
  • Arborescent – Branching like a tree.[1]
  • Arched – Bowed or bent in a curve.[1]
  • Arcti-spiral – Tightly coiled, as some spiral shells.[1]
  • Asphyxiating – Causing suspended animation; apparent death.[1]
  • Assimilation – Act of converting one substance into another, as the changing of food-stuffs into living bodies.[1]
  • Asymmetrical – Not symmetrical.[1]
  • Atrophied – Wasted away.[1]
  • Attenuate – Long and slender, as in some shells.[1]
  • Auditory – Connected with the hearing.[1]
  • Auricled – Eared, or with ear-like appendages.[1]
  • Basal – The bottom or lower part.[1]
  • Biangulate – With two angles.[1]
  • Bicuspid or bicuspidate – Having two cusps.[1]
  • Bifid – Having two arms or prongs.[1]
  • Bifurcated – Having two branches.[1]
  • Bilateral – With two sides.[1]
  • Bilobed – With two lobes.[1]
  • Bulbous – Swollen.[1]
  • Calcareous – Composed of carbonate of lime.[1]
  • Callosity – A hardened and raised bunch, as the callus on the columella of some shells.[1]
  • Campanulate – Formed like a bell.[1]
  • Canaliculate – Resembling a canal, as the deep sutures in some shells.[1]
  • Cancellated – Formed of cross-bars, as the longitudinal and spiral lines which cross in some shells.[1]
  • Cardiac pouch – Containing the heart and placed near the umb'ones of the shell.[1]
  • Carinate – Keeled.[1] With keel.
  • Cartilaginous – Like cartilage.[1]
  • Caudal – Tail-like, or with a tail-like appendage.[1]
  • Cellular – Made up of cells.[1]
  • Cerebral – Pertaining to the brain.[1]
  • Channeled – Grooved or formed like a channel.[1]
  • Ciliary – By means of cilia.[1]
  • Ciliated – Having cilia.[1]
  • Cilium (plural cilia) – A lash; used to designate the hairs on the mantle, gills, etc.[1]
  • Clavate – Club-shaped.[1]
  • Coarctate – Pressed together, narrowed.[1]
  • Concave – Excavated, hollowed out.[1]
  • Conic – Shaped like a cone.[1]
  • Connective – A part connecting two other parts, as a muscle connecting two parts of the body, or a nerve connecting two ganglia.[1]
  • Constricted – Narrowed.[1]
  • Contractile – Capable of being contracted or drawn in, as the tentacle of a snail.[1]
  • Convex – Bulged out, as the whorls of some snails.[1]
  • Convoluted – Rolled together.[1]
  • Cordate – Heart-shaped.[1]
  • Corneous – Horn-like, as the opercula of some gastropods.[1]
  • Corrugated – Roughened by wrinkles.[1]
  • Costate – Having rib-like ridges.[1]
  • Crenulate – Wrinkled on the edges.[1]
  • Crescentic – Like a crescent.[1]
  • Cylindrical – Like a cylinder.[1]
  • Decollated – Cut off, as the apex of some shells.[1]
  • Decussated – With spiral and longitudinal lines intersecting, as the sculpture of some shells.[1]
  • Dentate – With points or nodules resembling teeth, as the aperture of some snails.[1]
  • Denticulate – Finely dentate.[1]
  • Depressed – Flattened, as the spire in some snails.[1]
  • Dextral – Right-handed.[1]
  • Digitiform – Finger-like.[1]
  • Dilated – Expanded in all directions, as the aperture of a shell.[1]
  • Dimorphism – With two forms or conditions.[1]
  • Dioecious – Having the sexes in two individuals, one male and one female.[1]
  • Distal – The farthest part from an object.[1]
  • Discoidal – Shaped like a flat disk.[1]
  • Diverticulum – A pouch or hole, as the pouch containing the radula, or that containing the dart in helices.[1]
  • Dormant – In a state of torpor or sleep.[1]
  • Dorsal – The back. In gastropods the opposite to the aperture.[1]
  • Ectocone – The outer cusp on the teeth of the radula.[1]
  • Edentulous – Without teeth or folds, as the aperture in some gastropods.[1]
  • Efferent – Carrying out.[1]
  • Elliptical – With an oval form.[1]
  • Elongated – Drawn out, as the spire of a shell.[1]
  • Emarginate – Bluntly notched.[1]
  • Encysted – Enclosed in a cyst.[1]
  • Entocone – The inner cusp on the teeth of the radula.[1]
  • Entire – With even, unbroken edges, as the aperture of some shells.[1]
  • Epiphallus – A portion of the vas deferens which becomes modified into a tube-like organ and is continued beyond the apex of the penis; it frequently bears a blind duct, or flagellum.[1]
  • Epithelium – All tissues bounding a free surface.[1]
  • Equidistant – Equally spaced, as the spiral lines on some snail shells.[1]
  • Equilibrating – Balancing equally.[1]
  • Eroded – Worn away, as the epidermis on some shells.[1]
  • Erosive – Capable of erosion.[1]
  • Excavated – Hollowed out, as the columella of some snails.[1]
  • Excurrent – Referring to the siphon which carries out the waste matter of the body.[1]
  • Exserted – Brought out.[1]
  • Expanded – Spread out, as the lip of some shells.[1]
  • Falcate – Scythe-shaped.[1]
  • Fasciculus – A little bundle.[1]
  • Flagellate – Animals with a flagellum or lash.[1]
  • Flexuous – Formed in a series of curves or turnings, as the columella in some shells.[1]
  • Flocculent – Clinging together in bunches.[1]
  • Fluviatile – Living in running streams.[1]
  • Fusiform – Thick in the middle and tapering at each end.[1]
  • Gelatinous – Like jelly, as the eggs of some mollusks.[1]
  • Gibbous – Very much rounded, as the whorls in some snails.[1]
  • Glandular – Like a gland.[1]
  • Globose – Rounded.[1]
  • Granulated – Covered with little grains.[1]
  • Gravid – A female mollusk with ovaries distended with young.[1]
  • Gregarious – Living in colonies.[1]
  • Gular – Relating to the windpipe or palate. In mollusks, referring to the innermost part of the aperture.[1]
  • Hasmolymph – Molluscan blood.[1]
  • Hemispherical – Half a sphere.[1]
  • Hibernation – The act of hibernating or going to sleep for the winter months.[1]
  • Hirsute – Covered with hairs, as some snails.[1]
  • Hispid – Same as hirsute.[1]
  • Homologous – Having the same position or value, as the wing of a bird and of a bat.[1]
  • Hyaline – Glassy.[1]
  • Imperforate – Not perforated or umbilicated.[1]
  • Impressed – Marked by a furrow, as the impressed spiral lines on some gastropod shells.[1]
  • Incrassate – Thickened.[1]
  • Incurved – Leaned or bent over, as the apex in some snails.[1]
  • Indented – Notched.[1]
  • Inflected – Turned in, as the teeth of some snails.[1]
  • Inhalent – Same as incurrent.[1]
  • Inoperculate – Without an operculum.[1]
  • Intercostate – Between the ribs or ridges.[1]
  • Invaginate – One part bending into another, as the tentacles of some land snails.[1]
  • Invertible – Capable of being inverted, or drawn in, as the eye-peduncles of a land snail.[1]
  • Keeled – With a more or less sharp projection at the periphery.[1]
  • Lamellated – Covered with scales.[1]
  • Lamelliform – Having the form of scales.[1]
  • Laminated – Consisting of plates or scales laid over each other.[1]
  • Lanceolate – Gradually tapering to a point.[1]
  • Lateral – Pertaining to the side.[1]
  • Latticed – (See decussated.)[1]
  • Lobulate – Composed of lobes.[1]
  • Longitudinal – The length of a shell.[1]
  • Lunate – Shaped like a half moon, as the aperture in some shells.[1]
  • Malleated – Appearing as though hammered.[1]
  • Manducatory – Relating to the apparatus for masticating food. In snails, the jaws and radula.[1]
  • Median – Middle, as the middle tooth on the radula.[1]
  • Mesocene – The middle cusp on the teeth of the radula.[1]
  • Monoecius – Having the sexes united in the same individual.[1]
  • Multifid – Made up of many lobes or projections, as the cusps on some radulae.[1]
  • Multispiral – Consisting of many whorls, as some fresh-water snails.[1]
  • Nacreous – Pearly or iridescent.[1]
  • Nepionic – The second stage of the embryonic shell, as the glochidium.[1]
  • Notched – Nicked or indented, as the anterior canal of some gastropods.[1]
  • Nucleus – The first part or beginning, as the apex in a gastropod shell.[1]
  • Nucleated – Having a nucleus.[1]
  • Obconic – In the form of a reversed cone.[1]
  • Oblique – Slanting, as the aperture of some shells when not parallel to the longitudinal axis.[1]
  • Obovate – Reversed ovate, as some shells when the diameter is greater near the upper than at the lower part.[1]
  • Obtuse – Dull or blunt, as the apex of some gastropods.[1]
  • Olfactory – Pertaining to the smell.[1]
  • Olivaceous – Colored like an olive.[1]
  • Organism – An organized being, or living object made up of organs.[1]
  • Ovate – Egg-shaped.[1]
  • Ovately conic – Shaped like an egg, but with a somewhat conic apex, as some gastropods.[1]
  • Oviparous – Bringing forth young in an egg which is hatched after it is laid.[1]
  • Ovisac – A pouch in which the eggs or embryos are contained.[1]
  • Ovoviviparous – In this case the young are formed in an egg but are hatched inside the parent.[1]
  • Papillose – Covered with many little bulgings or pimples.[1]
  • Parallel – Having the same relative distance in all parts, as when the spiral lines in univalve shells are the same distance apart all the way around.[1]
  • Patelliform – Shaped like a flattened-out cone, as an Ancylus.[1]
  • Patulous – Open and spreading, as the aperture in some gastropods.[1]
  • Paucispiral – Only slightly spiral, as some opercula.[1]
  • Pectinate – Like the teeth of a comb, as the gills of some mollusks.[1]
  • Pedal – Pertaining to the foot.[1]
  • Pedunculated – Supported on a stem or stalk, as the eyes of land snails.[1]
  • Pellucid – Transparent or clear, as the shells of some snails; e. g. Vitrea.[1]
  • Penultimate – The whorl before the last in gastropod shells.[1]
  • Pericardium – The chamber containing the heart.[1]
  • Pervious – Very narrowly open, as the umbilicus in some snails.[1]
  • Phytophagus – Vegetable-feeding.[1]
  • Pilose – Covered with hairs.[1]
  • Pinnate – Branched like a feather, as the gills of some mollusks.[1]
  • Plaited – Folded.[1]
  • Planorboid – Flat and orb-like, as some snails.[1]
  • Pleurae – Relating to the side of a body.[1]
  • Plexus – A network of vessels, as the form of the lungs in snails.[1]
  • Plicated – Made up of folds.[1]
  • Plumose – Resembling plumes.[1]
  • Polygonal – Having many angles.[1]
  • Porcellanous – Like porcelain.[1]
  • Prismatic – Like a prism.[1]
  • Prodissoconch – The embryonic shell.[1]
  • Protract – To push out.[1]
  • Protractor pedis – The foot protractor muscle.[1]
  • Protrusile – Capable of being pushed out.[1]
  • Proximal – The nearest end of an object.[1]
  • Pulsation – A throb, as the throbbing of the heart.[1]
  • Pupiform – Like a pupa; one of the stages in the development of an insect.[1]
  • Pustulate – Covered with pustules or little pimples.[1]
  • Pustulose – Same as pustulate.[1]
  • Pyramidal – Having the form of a pyramid.[1]
  • Pyriform – Shaped like a pear.[1]
  • Reflected – Bent backward, as the lip in some snails.[1]
  • Reflexed – Same as Reflected.[1]
  • Renal – Relating to the kidneys.[1]
  • Reticulated – Resembling a network, as when the longitudinal and spiral lines cross in a snail.[1]
  • Retractile – Capable of being drawn in, as the eye peduncles in land snails.[1]
  • Retractor pedis – Foot retractor muscle.[1]
  • Revolving lines – Spiral lines on a snail shell which run parallel with the sutures.[1]
  • Rhombic – Having four sides, the angles being oblique.[1]
  • Rhomboid – Four-sided, but two of the sides being longer than the others.[1]
  • Rimate – Provided with a very small hole or crack, as some snails in which the umbilicus is very narrowly open.[1]
  • Roundly lunate – Rounder than lunate (which see).[1]
  • Rostriform – In the form of a rostrum.[1]
  • Rudimentary – Not fully formed; imperfect.[1]
  • Rugose – Rough or wrinkled, as parts of some shells.[1]
  • Sacculated – Somewhat like a sac, or composed of sac-like parts.[1]
  • Scalar – Resembling a ladder.[1]
  • Secreted – Produced or deposited from the blood or glands, as the shell material in mollusks.[1]
  • Semicircular – Half round or circular, as the aperture in some snails.[1]
  • Semidentate – Half toothed, as the parietal wall in some land snails.[1]
  • Semielliptic – Half elliptical.[1]
  • Semiglobose – Half, or not quite globose.[1]
  • Semilunate – Half lunate.[1]
  • Semioval – Half, or not quite oval.[1]
  • Serrated – Notched, like the teeth on a saw.[1]
  • Serriform – In the form of series.[1]
  • Sessile – Attached without a stem, as the eyes in some water snails.[1]
  • Shouldered – Ridged, as the whorls in some snails.[1]
  • Sigmoid – Shaped like the letter S.[1]
  • Siliceous – Made up of silex.[1]
  • Sinistral – Having the aperture on the left side.[1]
  • Sinusigerid – with a diagonally cancellate (structure)
  • Sinuous – Curved in and out, as the edge of some bivalves and the lips of some snails.[1]
  • Siphonal canal – semi-tubular extension of the aperture of the shell through which the siphon is extended when the animal is active
  • Spatulate – In the form of a spatula, a flat-bladed instrument used by druggists in pulverizing drugs.[1]
  • Spherical – Shaped like a sphere.[1]
  • Spiral – Wound about a central cavity, as the whorls of snails.[1]
  • Striated – Marked by lines or striae.[1]
  • Subangulated – Moderately angled.[1]
  • Subcarinated – Moderately carinated.[1]
  • Subcentral – Not quite in the center.[1]
  • Subcircular – Not quite circular.[1]
  • Subconical – Moderately conical.[1]
  • Subequal – Not quite equal.[1]
  • Subexcavated – A little excavated.[1]
  • Subfusiform – Moderately fusiform.[1]
  • Subglobose – Moderately globose.[1]
  • Subglobular – Moderately globular.[1]
  • Subhyaline – Moderately glassy.[1]
  • Subimperforate – Not much perforated.[1]
  • Suboblong – Moderately oblong.[1]
  • Subobsolete – Almost disappearing.[1]
  • Subovate – Nearly ovate.[1]
  • Subparallel – Almost parallel.[1]
  • Subperforated – Almost perforated.[1]
  • Subquadrate – Almost four-sided.[1]
  • Subreflected – Moderately turned back.[1]
  • Subrotund – Moderately round.[1]
  • Subspiral – Moderately spiral.[1]
  • Subtriangulate – Moderately or almost triangular.[1]
  • Subtrigonal – Moderately three-angled.[1]
  • Subtruncate – Moderately cut off.[1]
  • Subumbilicated – Moderately umbilicated.[1]
  • Sulcated – Grooved.[1]
  • Sulcus – A longitudinal furrow.[1]
  • Superanal – Above the anus.[1]
  • Supra-peripheral – Above the periphery.[1]
  • Symmetrical – Alike on both sides or uniform in all parts.[1]
  • Terrestrial – Living on the land.[1]
  • Testaceous – Composed of shelly matter.[1]
  • Tortuous – Twisted or winding.[1]
  • Torpid – Half unconscious or asleep, as a snail during hibernation.[1]
  • Translucent – Not quite transparent; light is seen through the thin edges of the object.[1]
  • Transparent – Objects may be seen through the substance.[1]
  • Transverse – Referring to the form of a shell when it is wider than high.[1]
  • Tricuspidate – Having three cusps.[1]
  • Trifid – Having three branches.[1]
  • Trigonal – Having three angles.[1]
  • Trilobate – Having three lobes.[1]
  • Tripartite – Divided into three parts, as the foot of some snails.[1]
  • Truncate – Having the end cut off squarely.[1]
  • Tuberculate – Covered with tubercles or rounded knobs.[1]
  • Turbinate – Having the form of a top.[1]
  • Turriculated – Having the form of a tower.[1]
  • Turreted – Having the form of a tower.[1]
  • Umbilicated – Having an opening in the base of the shell.[1]
  • Undulated – Having undulations or waves.[1]
  • Univalve – Having the shell composed of a single piece, as a snail.[1]
  • Varicose – Swollen or enlarged.[1]
  • Vascular – Containing or made up of blood vessels.[1]
  • Vermiform – Formed like a worm.[1]
  • Ventral – The lower border or side.[1]
  • Ventricose – Swollen or inflated on the ventral side.[1]
  • Vibratile – Moving from side to side.[1]
  • Vitreous – Resembling glass, as some snails.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

This article include public domain text from Baker, The Mollusca of the Chicago area, 1898-1902.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj gk gl gm gn go gp gq gr gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn ho hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij ik il im in io ip iq ir is it iu iv iw ix iy iz ja jb jc jd je jf jg jh ji jj jk jl jm jn jo jp jq jr js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km kn ko kp kq kr ks kt Baker F. C. (1898). The Mollusca of the Chicago area, The Chicago Academy of Sciences, pages 381-390.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_gastropod_terms&oldid=1210589957"