Gastropods

The Gastropods (class Gastropoda), are the largest, most common, and most varied group of molluscs. Snails are the most familiar gastropods, but the group includes other forms such as limpets, abalones and nudibranchs.

• There are perhaps 75,000 species, mostly marine. 
• A typical gastropod can best be described as a coiled mass of vital organs enclosed by a dorsal shell.
• Most gastropods use their radula to scrap algae from rocks, as in periwinkles, limpets, and abalones.
• Some, like mud snails, are deposit feeders on soft bottoms.
• Whelks, oyster drills, and cone shells are carnivores: they pray on clams, oysters, worms and even small fishes

Limpets

Nudibranchs, or sea slugs, are gastropods that have lost the shell altogether. Colorful branches of the gut or exposed gills make nudibranchs among the most beautiful of all marine animals. They prey on sponges, hybroids, and other invertebrates. As a defensive mechanism,, nudibranchs often produce noxious chemicals or retain undischarged nematocysts taken undigested from their prey.

Sea Slug