Mollusc shell

Part of a series related to
Biomineralization
General Mineralized tissues Remineralisation Biocrystallization Biointerface Biofilm
Exoskeletons (shells) Arthropod exoskeleton cuticle Brachiopod shell Cephalopod shell cirrate shell cuttlebone gladius Lorica Choanoflagellate lorica Protist shell coccosphere coccolith diatom frustule foraminifera test testate amoebae Seashell echinoderm stereom mollusc shell nacre chiton shell gastropod shell small shelly fauna scaly-foot snail shell estuary shells Sponge spicule Test
Endoskeletons (bones) Vertebrate skeleton Bone mineral Ossification
Teeth, scales, tusks etc Limpet teeth Otolith otolithic membrane Scale microfossils Tusk
Calcification amorphous calcium carbonate marine biogenic calcification calcareous nannofossils Aragonite oolitic aragonite sand aragonite sea Calcite microbial calcite precipitation calcite sea Great Calcite Belt
Silicification biogenic silica siliceous ooze diatomaceous earth
Other forms Bone bed Kerogen alginite oil shale Phosphate phosphorite Pyrena
Related Mineral evolution In soil mineralization immobilization Ballast minerals Magnetofossil Magnetosome Magnetotactic bacteria Magnetoreception Microfossils engrailed gene Druse Cupriavidus metallidurans Biomineralising polychaetes Mineral nutrients Microbial mat Fossilization permineralization petrifaction Burgess Shale preservation
Category
v t e

The mollusc (or mollusk^{[spelling 1]}) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes. Not all shelled molluscs live in the sea; many live on the land and in freshwater.

The ancestral mollusc is thought to have had a shell, but this has subsequently been lost or reduced on some families, such as the squid, octopus, and some smaller groups such as the caudofoveata and solenogastres.^[1] Today, over 100,000 living species bear a shell; there is some dispute as to whether these shell-bearing molluscs form a monophyletic group (conchifera) or whether shell-less molluscs are interleaved into their family tree.^[2]

Malacology, the scientific study of molluscs as living organisms, has a branch devoted to the study of shells, and this is called conchology—although these terms used to be, and to a minor extent still are, used interchangeably, even by scientists (this is more common in Europe).

Within some species of molluscs, there is often a wide degree of variation in the exact shape, pattern, ornamentation, and color of the shell.

Cite error: There are <ref group=spelling> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=spelling}} template (see the help page).