Seismic
Learning together, creating positive change
The primary goal of Seismic is to leverage students' existing expertise in social networking to help local communities.
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Nov 07, 2008
Updated: Mar 23, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
All Areas of Focus » Animalia »
Mollusks and Crustaceans
Mollusks and CrustaceansThere are over 100,000 living species of mollusks and crustaceans. Mollusks are highly valued as food, for their beauty, for making pearls, for medical research, as collectibles, and were a form of currency. Well known are oysters, shrimps, clams, scallops, squid, octopus, and snails. They live in every habitat: oceanic, rocky shore, freshwater, and terrestrial. Freshwater mussels have been threatened or are extinct from river manipulation in the United States. No marine mollusks are threatened with extinction but many are overexploited and overcollected, causing local populations to disappear. The most well known of the 40,000 crustaceans are lobsters, crayfish, crabs, and shrimps. As with mollusks, only a few isolated populations appear threatened with extinction but over-exploitation is rampant. In addition, the introduction of crayfish has upset ecosystems and put other species in danger. |
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Keywords mollusks, crustaceans, oysters, shrimps, clams, scallops, squid, octopus, snails, lobsters, crayfish, crabs, isopods, habitat alteration, pollution, aquaculture, invasive species, endemism, fisheries, overexploitation, animals |
