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Gastropod Main
Glossary
References
Links
Hooper Main |
Evolution 4
Unlike the pulmonates, the opisthobranchs have endeavoured to better adapt to their original marine environment, rather than colonise other areas. Some stenoglossan opisthobranchs can incorporate the chloroplasts from their algal food into their digestive cells, where they continue to photosynthesise for their new host. Most, like the nudibranchs, have lost their shells and range in size from less than 5 mm to over 10 cm. Most likely arising from primitive prosobranchs, they have radiated to inhabit the shallow seas and great depths and many have become active predators, as have many prosobranchs that have remained in the seas.
Figure 5: A Nudibranch. Many opisthobranchs have lost their external shells. These are highly adapted to their particular environments.
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