Mantle (mollusc)

Information about Mantle (mollusc)

The mantle is an organ found in mollusks. It is the dorsal body wall covering the main body, or visceral mass. In many species, the epidermis of this organ secretes calcium carbonate to create a shell.

Shell formation

Nacre is secreted by the ectodermic cells of the mantle tissue of most mollusks. Mollusk blood is rich in a liquid form of calcium. In these mollusks the calcium is concentrated out from the blood where it can crystallize as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). The individual crystals of each layer differ in shape and orientation. Nacre is continually deposited onto the inner surface of the animal's shell (the iridescent nacreous layer, also known as mother of pearl), both as a means to smoothen the shell itself and as a defense against parasitic organisms and damaging detritus.

The calcium carbonate layers are generally of two types: an outer, chalk-like prismatic layer and an inner pearly, lamellar or nacreous layer. The layers may incorporate a substance called conchiolin, often in order to help bind the calcium carbonate crystals together. Conchiolin is composed largely of quinone-tanned proteins.

Some shells may also contain pigments, which accounts for the fabulous colours of some seashells. These shell pigments may include compounds like pyrroles and porphyrins, which are also proteins.

The mantle cavity

A mantle skirt is a double fold of mantle that encloses a water space. This space is called the mantle cavity, and it is a central feature of mollusk biology, containing the mollusk's gills, anus, osphradium, nephridiopores, and gonopores. The mantle cavity may function as a respiratory chamber (all mollusks), feeding structure (bivalves), brood chamber (several forms), or locomotory organ (cephalopods and some bivalves).

The mantle is highly muscular. In cephalopods it is used to force water through a tubular siphon, the hyponome, to propel the animal quickly through the water. In other mollusks, it is used as a kind of "foot" for locomotion.

The nervous system of cephalopods is the most complex of the invertebrates. The giant nerve fibers of the cephalopod mantle have been a favorite experimental material of neurophysiologists for many years.

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Blood is a specialized biological fluid consisting of red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called leukocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes) suspended in a complex fluid medium known as blood plasma.
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Calcium (IPA: /ˈkalsiəm/) is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078.
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shell is a hard, rigid outer layer, which has evolved in a very wide variety of different animals, including mollusks, sea urchins, crustaceans, turtles and tortoises, armadillos, etc.
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Iridescence is an optical phenomenon characterized as the property of surfaces in which hue changes according to the angle from which the surface is viewed (as may be seen of soap bubbles and butterfly wings).
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Parasitism is one version of symbiosis ("living together"), a phenomenon in which two organisms which are phylogenetically unrelated co-exist over a prolonged period of time, usually the lifetime of one of the individuals.
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Conchiolin (sometimes referred to as conchin) and perlucin are complex proteins which are secreted by a mollusc's outer epithelium (the mantle). These proteins are part of a matrix of organic macromolecules, mainly proteins and polysaccharides, that assembled together
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Benzoquinone, or quinone is one of the two isomers of cyclohexadienedione. It has the molecular formula C₆H₄O₂. Orthobenzoquinone is the 1,2-dione, whereas parabenzoquinone is the 1,4-dione.
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Proteins are large organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues.
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seashell is the common name for a hard, protective outer layer created by a marine organism or sea creature. In addition to seashells, there are also several different types of non-marine animal shell in the natural world.
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Pyrrole, or pyrrol, is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound, a five-membered ring with the formula C₄H₄NH.^[1] Substituted derivatives are also called pyrroles.
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porphyrin is a heterocyclic macrocycle derived from four pyrrole-like subunits interconnected via their α carbon atoms via methine bridges (=CH-). The macrocycle, therefore, is a highly conjugated system, and is consequently deeply coloured—the name porphyrin
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A gill is a respiration organ that functions for the extraction of oxygen from water and the excretion of carbon dioxide. Unlike many small aquatic animals, which can absorb oxygen through the entire surface of their bodies, more complex aquatic organisms have gills specially
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anus (from Latin ānus "ring, anus") is the external opening of the rectum. Closure is controlled by sphincter muscles. Feces are expelled from the body through the anus during the act of defecation, which is the primary function of the anus.
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The Osphradium is the olfactory organ in certain molluscs, linked with the respiration organ.
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Nephridiopore is part of the nephridia, an excretory organ found in many organisms, such as flatworms or annelids. Nephridia are analogous to nephrons or uriniferous tubules found in the kidney of humans.
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A gonopore is a genital pore in some invertebrates and especially some insects.

For insects, it is the opening of the genital duct. More specifically, in the unmodified female it is the opening of the common oviduct, and in the male, it is the opening of the ejaculatory duct.
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In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of oxygen from the ambient air to the tissue cells and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. This is in contrast to the biochemical definition of respiration, which refers to cellular respiration
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Bivalvia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses

Anomalosdesmata
Cryptodonta
Heterodonta
Paleoheterodonta
Palaeotaxodonta
Pteriomorphia
and see text
Bivalves are mollusks belonging to the class Bivalvia.
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Cephalopoda
Cuvier, 1797

Orders

Subclass Nautiloidea

†Plectronocerida
†Ellesmerocerida
†Actinocerida
†Pseudorthocerida
†Endocerida
†Tarphycerida
†Oncocerida

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hyponome is the organ used by cephalopods for locomotion. It is a muscular funnel or siphon into which water is drawn. The hyponome expands and then contracts, sending a jet of water rushing out.
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nervous system of an animal coordinates the activity of the muscles, monitors the organs, constructs and also stops input from the senses, and initiates actions. Prominent parts of a nervous system include neurons and nerves, which are used in coordination.
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Invertebrate is an English word that describes any animal without a spinal column. The group includes 97% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals).
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A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of axons (the long, slender projection of a neuron). Neurons are sometimes called nerve cells, though this term is technically imprecise since many neurons do not form nerves, and nerves also include the glial cells that
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