The mantle (also known by the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word pallium meaning mantle, robe or cloak, adjective pallial) is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself. In many species of molluscs the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the ...

of the mantle secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin, and creates a shell. In

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary ...

s there is a progressive loss of the shell and the mantle becomes the dorsal surface of the animal. The words mantle and pallium both originally meant cloak or cape, see

mantle (vesture) A mantle ( el, μανδύας, translit=mandyas; Church Slavonic: мантия, ''mantiya'') is an ecclesiastical garment in the form of a very full cape that extends to the floor, joined at the neck, that is worn over the outer garments. Especi ...

. This anatomical structure in molluscs often resembles a cloak because in many groups the edges of the mantle, usually referred to as the ''mantle margin'', extend far beyond the main part of the body, forming flaps, double-layered structures which have been adapted for many different uses, including for example, the siphon.

Mantle cavity

The ''mantle cavity'' is a central feature of molluscan biology. This cavity is formed by the mantle skirt, a double fold of mantle which encloses a water space. This space contains the mollusk's gills, anus, osphradium, nephridiopores, and gonopores. The mantle cavity functions as a respiratory chamber in most mollusks. In bivalves it is usually part of the feeding structure. In some mollusks the mantle cavity is a brood chamber, and in cephalopods and some bivalves such as scallops, it is a locomotory organ. The mantle is highly muscular. In cephalopods the contraction of the mantle is used to force water through a tubular siphon, the hyponome, and this propels the animal very rapidly through the water. In gastropods it is used as a kind of "foot" for locomotion over the surface. In '' Patella'' the foot includes the entire ventral surface of the animal. The foot of the

Bivalvia Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, biv ...

is a fleshy process adapted by its form to digging rather than to locomotion.

Formation of mollusc shell

In shelled molluscs, the mantle is the organ that forms the shell, and adds to the shell to increase its size and strength as the animal grows. Shell material is secreted by the ectodermic ( epithelial) cells of the mantle tissue."integument (molluscs)." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD

Mantle of gastropods

The mantle of many gastropods is usually fully or partially hidden inside the

gastropod shell The gastropod shell is part of the body of a Gastropoda, gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium s ...

. File:Cypraea chinensis with partially extended mantle.jpg, The marine gastropod '' Cypraea chinensis'', the Chinese cowry, showing its partially extended mantle. File:Cypraea chinensis with fully extended mantle.jpg, ''Cypraea chinensis'' with its mantle fully extended. File:SnailWynaad.jpg, The mantle of the land snail ''

Indrella ampulla ''Indrella'' is a monotypic genus containing the single species ''Indrella ampulla'', a tropical terrestrial air-breathing gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.2007''Tropical Land Snail Div ...

'' is off-white in color and partly visible under the shell. The head and foot are red, and the foot fringe is off-white with narrow black lines. File:BEP 7909-1.jpg, The mantle of the nudibranch ''

Felimida purpurea ''Felimida purpurea'' is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdes A. & Warén A. 2005''Classification ...

'' has a marginal line of orange-yellow colour. In species where the shell is small compared to the size of the body, more of the mantle shows. Shell-less slugs have the mantle fully visible. The dorsal surface of the mantle is called the notum, while the ventral surface of the mantle is called the hyponotum. In the family Philomycidae, the mantle covers the whole back side of the body.Tsai C.-L. & Wu S.-K. (2008)
PDF "A New ''Meghimatium'' Slug (Pulmonata: Philomycidae) from Taiwan".
'' Zoological Studies'' 47(6): 759-766. File:Bielzia coerulans-3.jpg, The mantle and the head of this slug '' Bielzia coerulans'' is smooth, while the rest of the body is tubercled. File:Megapallifera mutabilis.jpg, '' Megapallifera mutabilis'' from Philomycidae shows enormously developed mantle

References

{{Gastropod anatomy Mollusc anatomy Cephalopod zootomy

Mantle cavity

Formation of mollusc shell

Mantle of gastropods

See also

References