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]
- 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]
- Campanulate – Formed like a bell.[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]
- 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]
- Decussated – With spiral and longitudinal lines intersecting, as the sculpture of some shells.[1]
- Deflexed – Bent downward, as the last whorl in 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]
- 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]
- Exoskeleton – The outer skeleton; all shells are exoskeletons.[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]
- 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]
- Herbivorous – Subsisting upon vegetable food.[1]
- Hermaphrodite – Having the sexes united in the same individual.[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]
- 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]
- Penultimate – The whorl before the last in gastropod shells.[1]
- Pericardium – The chamber containing the heart.[1]
- Periostracum – The epidermal covering of some shells.[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]
- Planispiral shell
- 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]
- Protoconch – 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]
- Subcylindrical – Moderately cylindrical.[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
editReferences
editThis article include public domain text from Baker, The Mollusca of the Chicago area, 1898-1902.[1]
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