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Gastropod Main
Glossary
References
Links
Hooper Main |
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Figure 12: One of many small species of Nudibranchs. Gastropods have taken an amazing varitey of sizes and forms. This photo was taken off the coast of southern California; the regulator is about 10 cm in diameter. |
Many gastropods have diverged significantly from the standard forms seen in Fig. 11 last page. The conchs and many other marine families have often developed elaborate ribbing and spines, as did the Venus comb. The nudibranchs, like land slugs, have lost their shell entirely and swim or crawl freely in the oceans. They have taken a wide variety of forms, sometimes with striking exterior dendritiform gills or patterned colourfully.
Figure 13: Often wildly coloured, free-swimming marine gastropods can be quite common from tropical to temperate waters.
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