Heterobranchia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Heterobranchia |
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| Four examples of Heterobranchia | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia J.E. Gray, 1840 |
| Taxonomic subcategories | |
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informal group Lower Heterobranchia |
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The Heterobranchs are a really big and interesting group of snails and slugs. You can find them almost everywhere! Some live in the ocean, some in freshwater, and many others live on land. They are all types of gastropods, which are a kind of mollusc.
Contents
Meet the Heterobranchs
The Heterobranchia group is one of the main clades (or big family groups) of gastropods. Scientists are still working hard to understand exactly how all the different types of Heterobranchs are related to each other. It's a bit like a giant family tree that's still being drawn!
This large group is currently divided into three main informal groups:
Lower Heterobranchia: The Specialized Sea Creatures
The Lower Heterobranchia is a group of very special and highly evolved sea slugs and sea snails. Most of them live in the ocean. They often have unique body shapes and ways of life.
Opisthobranchia: Ocean Dwellers with Grinding Gizzards
The Opisthobranchia group includes many marine species. Some of these have shells, while others do not. A cool fact about many Opisthobranchs is that they have special gizzard plates inside their bodies. These plates help them grind up their food!
Pulmonata: Snails and Slugs You Know
The Pulmonata group is probably the most familiar to many people. This group includes most of the snails and slugs you see on land. It also has many snails that live in freshwater and even a few marine species.
Pulmonata are special because they can breathe air. They are also usually hermaphrodite, which means each individual has both male and female reproductive parts. Most of them do not have an operculum, which is a hard lid that some snails use to close off their shell opening.
Images for kids
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A shell of the marine species Bulla quoyii, which is an opisthobranch.
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Berthella martensi, a pleurobranch.
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This graph shows how scientists try to understand the family tree of Heterobranchs. It highlights that the Opisthobranchia (green) and Pulmonata (yellow) groups might not be single, clear family branches based on some studies.
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See also
In Spanish: Heterobranquios para niños
