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Cornu Aspersum
''Cornu aspersum'' (syn. ''Cryptomphalus aspersus''), known by the common name garden snail, is a species of land snail in the family Helicidae, which includes some of the most familiar land snails. Of all terrestrial molluscs, this species may well be the most widely known. It was classified under the name ''Helix aspersa'' for over two centuries, but the prevailing classification now places it in the genus ''Cornu''. The snail is relished as a food item in some areas, but it is also widely regarded as a pest in gardens and in agriculture, especially in regions where it has been introduced accidentally, and where snails are not usually considered to be a menu item. Description The adult bears a hard, thin calcareous shell in diameter and high, with four or five whorls. The shell is variable in coloring and shade of color, but generally it has a reticulated pattern of dark brown, brownish-golden, or chestnut with yellow stripes, flecks, or streaks (characteristically interr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limonium
''Limonium'' is a genus of 120 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the lavenders or to rosemary. They are instead in Plumbaginaceae, the plumbago or leadwort family. The generic name is from the Latin ', used by Pliny for a wild plant and is ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek ' (, ‘meadow’). Distribution The genus has a subcosmopolitan distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America. By far the greatest diversity (over 100 species) is in the area stretching from the Canary Islands east through the Mediterranean region to central Asia; for comparison, North America only has three native ''Limonium'' species. Description Sea-lavenders normally grow as herbaceous perennial plants, growing 10–70 cm tall from a rhizome; a few (mainly from the Canary Islands) are woody shrubs up to 2 metres tall. Many species flourish in saline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haemolymph
Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrates, that circulates in the interior of the arthropod (invertebrate) body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which hemolymph cells called hemocytes are suspended. In addition to hemocytes, the plasma also contains many chemicals. It is the major tissue type of the open circulatory system characteristic of arthropods (e.g. arachnids, crustaceans and insects). In addition, some non-arthropods such as molluscs possess a hemolymphatic circulatory system. Oxygen-transport systems were long thought unnecessary in insects, but ancestral and functional hemocyanin has been found in the hemolymph. Insect "blood" generally does not carry hemoglobin, although hemoglobin may be present in the tracheal system instead and play some role in respiration. Method of transport In the grasshopper, the closed portion of the system consists of tubular hearts and an aorta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulmonata
Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families. The taxon Pulmonata as traditionally defined was found to be polyphyletic in a molecular study per Jörger ''et al.'', dating from 2010. Pulmonata are known from the Carboniferous Period to the present. Pulmonates have a single atrium and kidney, and a concentrated, symmetrical, nervous system. The mantle cavity is located on the right side of the body, and lacks gills, instead being converted into a vascularised lung. Most species have a shell, but no operculum, although the group does also include several shell-less slugs. Pulmonates are hermaphroditic, and some groups possess love darts. Linnean taxonomy The taxonomy of this group according to the taxonomy of the Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snail Eggs
Snail caviar, also known as escargot caviar or escargot pearls, is a type of caviar that consists of fresh or processed eggs of land snails. It is a luxury gourmet speciality produced in France and Poland. They were also a delicacy in the ancient world, also known as "Pearls of Aphrodite" for their supposed aphrodisiac properties. In their natural state, the eggs are colourless. After processing, the caviar may be cream-coloured, pinkish-white, or white, with the eggs generally 3–4 mm in diameter. Some snail eggs may measure at 3–6 mm in diameter. Some commercial snail farms that produce escargot include the production of snail caviar as a part of their operations. Characteristics The raw snail eggs have a slick shell that is delicate and breakable. They are sometimes pasteurised to preserve them. However, the pasteurisation of snail eggs has been described as having a tarnishing effect upon their flavour. Some preserved versions are processed and jarred without t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helix Aspersa Mating
A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smoothness (mathematics), smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as double helix, two intertwined helices, and many proteins have helical substructures, known as alpha helix, alpha helices. The word ''helix'' comes from the Greek language, Greek word ''ἕλιξ'', "twisted, curved". A "filled-in" helix – for example, a "spiral" (helical) ramp – is a surface called ''helicoid''. Properties and types The ''pitch'' of a helix is the height of one complete helix turn (angle), turn, measured parallel to the axis of the helix. A double helix consists of two (typically congruence (geometry), congruent) helices with the same axis, differing by a translation along the axis. A circular helix (i.e. one with constant radius) has constant band curvature and constant Torsion of curves, torsion. A ''conic helix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related term developmental toxicity includes all manifestations of abnormal development that are caused by environmental insult. These may include growth retardation, delayed mental development or other congenital disorders without any structural malformations. Teratogens are substances that may cause birth defects via a toxic effect on an embryo or fetus. Known teratogens include: retinol, thalidomide, mercury, alcohol, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin. Etymology The term was borrowed in 1842 from the French , where it was formed in 1830 from the Greek (word stem ), meaning "sign sent by the gods, portent, marvel, monster", and ('' -ology''), used to designate a discourse, treaty, science, theory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helix Aperta
''Cantareus apertus'', commonly known as the green garden snail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicidae, the typical snails. Distribution ''Cantareus apertus'' is native to Europe primarily near the Mediterranean Sea, and also North Africa. Distribution of ''Cantareus apertus'' include: * France west of Rhone estuary It is protected in France, must not be collected for commercial purposes. * Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea * Italy, Italian peninsula to Liguria and Romagna * Ionian islands * Central Greece * Aegean Islands * Cyprus (only one locality) * Mediterranean north Africa In Salento it is known as municeḍḍe and in Sicily as attuppateḍḍu. It has also been introduced to other areas: * It has become established in California and Louisiana. * Western Australia – nonindegenous This species is already established in the United States, and is considered to represent a potentially serious thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the tiger cowry of the Indo-Pacific, ''Cypraea'' (''Cypraea'') ''tigris'' Linnaeus, which belongs to the subgenus ''Cypraea'' of the genus ''Cypraea''. However, it is not mandatory, or even customary, when giving the name of a species, to include the subgeneric name. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp), the subgenus is one of the possible subdivisions of a genus. There is no limit to the number of divisions that are permitted within a genus by adding the prefix "sub-" or in other ways as long as no confusion can result. Article 4 The secondary ranks of section and series are subordinate to subgenus. An example is ''Banksia'' subg. ''Isostylis'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy (snail)
Jeremy was a left-coiled garden snail investigated by biologists. The snail had a rare condition which caused its shell to coil to the left; in most snails the shell coils to the right. At first it was thought to be a rare genetic mutation, although later work revealed that it was likely due to an accident in early development. Jeremy was named after the left-wing British Labour politician Jeremy Corbyn, on account of it being a "lefty" snail, but also due to Corbyn's reported love of gardening. The snail became famous worldwide after a public appeal to find other left-coiled snails for a mate. Jeremy had 56 offspring and died on 11 October 2017, aged "at least two" years. Jeremy was studied by researchers from the University of Nottingham. It was hoped that the condition would be due to a mutation, and that genes identified from this snail and its offspring would help scientists unlock genetic markers in humans and other animals. Life A retired scientist found Jeremy in southw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radula
The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus. The radula is unique to the molluscs, and is found in every class of mollusc except the bivalves, which instead use cilia, waving filaments that bring minute organisms to the mouth. Within the gastropods, the radula is used in feeding by both herbivorous and carnivorous snails and slugs. The arrangement of teeth ( denticles) on the radular ribbon varies considerably from one group to another. In most of the more ancient lineages of gastropods, the radula is used to graze, by scraping diatoms and other microscopic algae off rock surfaces and other substrates. Predatory marine snails such as the Naticidae use the radula plus an acidic secretion to bore through the shell of other molluscs. Other predatory marine snails ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chitin
Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chitin are produced each year in the biosphere. It is a primary component of cell walls in fungi (especially basidiomycetes and filamentous fungi), the exoskeletons of arthropods such as crustaceans and insects, the radulae, cephalopod beaks and gladii of molluscs and in some nematodes and diatoms. It is also synthesised by at least some fish and lissamphibians. Commercially, chitin is extracted from the shells of crabs, shrimps, shellfishes and lobsters, which are major by-products of the seafood industry. The structure of chitin is comparable to cellulose, forming crystalline nanofibrils or whiskers. It is functionally comparable to the protein keratin. Chitin has proved useful for several medicinal, industrial and biotechnological purpos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invagination
Invagination is the process of a surface folding in on itself to form a cavity, pouch or tube. In developmental biology, invagination is a mechanism that takes place during gastrulation. This mechanism or cell movement happens mostly in the vegetal pole. Invagination consists of the folding of an area of the exterior sheet of cells towards the inside of the blastula. In each organism, the complexity will be different depending on the number of cells. Invagination can be referenced as one of the steps of the establishment of the body plan. The term, originally used in embryology, has been adopted in other disciplines as well. There is more than one type of movement for invagination. Two common types are axial and orthogonal. The difference between the production of the tube formed in the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix. Axial can be formed at a single point along the axis of a surface. Orthogonal is linear and trough. Biology * Invagination is the morphogenetic processes by wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
