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Mollusks, Worms, Sponges, Starfish

A 17th-century still life featuring a plate of oysters

From Peasant Fodder to Fine Dining, Feast on the Tasty History of How Snails and Oysters Became Luxury Foods

Humans have eaten mollusks for millennia, but they weren’t always viewed as elite treats

Rangers witnessed a captive Powelliphanta augusta snail lay an egg from its neck, and they managed to catch it on video for the first time ever.

Watch a Giant Snail Lay an Egg From a Pore in Its Neck in First-Ever Footage Captured in New Zealand

Conservation rangers took a video of an endangered, captive snail laying a large egg, revealing insight into the creature’s reproductive process

During the squid run, tens of thousands of opalescent squids (Doryteuthis opalescens) gather together.

In Order to Unravel the Many Mysteries of Squids, Scientists Dive Into Their Mating Frenzies

Marine biologists hope to find out more about a creature that is vital to a healthy ecosystem and the state’s fishery

Birds glide above the forests that surround Anacapa Island, California.

What Free Diving in a Kelp Forest Taught Me About an Overlooked but Incredibly Valuable Ecosystem

A photographer shares the epiphanies she has had while chronicling underwater jungles off the California coast

A broadclub cuttlefish, the second largest cuttlefish species, blends into the ocean floor.

Watch Cuttlefish Use Camouflage to Confuse Crabs, Taking on the Appearance of Coral and Leaves

Scientists have captured footage of the sea creatures using four distinct color-shifting techniques to trick their prey

Laminella venusta is a state land snail endemic to Molokai.

How a Hawaiian High School Student Inspired Nine New State Animals

Researchers hope the designation of several species of land snails, or kāhuli, will lead to conservation

Two newly discovered, spiky creatures from the Silurian period—nicknamed Punk and Emo—are helping scientists reveal the early history of mollusks.

Cool Finds

Meet Punk and Emo, Two Angsty-Looking Fossils From 430 Million Years Ago That Shed Light on Early Mollusk Evolution

The prehistoric creatures look to be sporting a punk hairstyle and emo bangs, and one of them seemingly moved like an inchworm

Jimmy Carter tries to comfort 6-year-old Ruhama Issah at Savelugu Hospital in Ghana as a Carter Center technical assistant dresses Issah's Guinea worm wound. In May 2010, Ghana reported its last case of Guinea worm disease and announced it had stopped transmission a year later.

Jimmy Carter Worked to Eradicate the Vicious Guinea Worm Parasite, Slashing Cases by the Millions

The 39th U.S. president aimed to quash the debilitating water-based infection before he died. Through the Carter Center’s work, he came tantalizingly close, lowering the number of yearly cases from 3.5 million to just 14

More than 1,300 tiny snails were released into the wild after a captive breeding effort. One baby snail is shown here on a British five pence coin.

Once Feared Extinct, 1,329 Pea-Sized Snails Have Been Released on an Atlantic Island After Captive Breeding Effort

Goats, rodents and habitat loss threatened the snails on Deserta Grande Island, so the mollusks were reintroduced on a neighboring island that’s free of invasive species

The life spans of these animals amaze scientists.

From Giant Tortoises to Immortal Jellyfish, These Impressive Animals Are Eight of the Longest-Living Species on Earth

Aging gracefully comes naturally to these creatures, which can live for hundreds, and sometimes even thousands, of years

The creature lives in the “midnight zone," an area of the ocean so deep that sunlight never reaches it.

Scientists Finally Identified This Glowing, Transparent ‘Mystery Mollusk’ After Nearly 25 Years of Puzzling

The newly described species of sea slug dwells in darkness in the ocean’s midnight zone, using a hood to capture prey with a Venus flytrap-like technique

This adult Partula tohiveana snail doesn't have a dot of UV-reflective paint on its shell, meaning it was born in the wild.

These Tiny Snails Are Breeding in the Wild for the First Time in 40 Years in French Polynesia

During a release of captive-bred snails in September, researchers discovered wild-born individuals from the Partula tohiveana species—which had been considered extinct in the wild—marking a huge milestone in a global effort to save them

A sample of ocean crust, turned upside down, reveals tubeworms and other organisms.

In a First, Scientists Find Animals Thriving Beneath the Ocean Floor in Hidden Habitats Near Deep-Sea Vents

The discovery of worms and snails confirms that these still-mysterious, dark hotspots of life extend beyond what’s visible above the crust

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who together discovered microRNA.

American Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine for ‘Groundbreaking’ Gene Discovery Made by Studying Worms

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, tiny molecules that play a crucial role in how cells develop, paving the way for new treatments for diseases

A rarely seen whiplash squid swims more than 3,500 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

See Ten Strange and Mesmerizing Creatures From the Deep Ocean, From Sea Toads to Frilled Sharks

Scientists who explore the depths using submersibles continue to discover amazing animals that inhabit dark waters

A team of scientists in the Red Sea captured footage of a big blue octopus hunting with other fish species.

New Research

Watch Octopuses Team Up With Fish to Hunt—and Punch Those That Don’t Contribute

The collaboration across species reveals a surprising social behavior of octopuses, researchers say

An artist imagines what Globidens alabamaensis would have looked like when present-day Texas was still submerged.

Rare Jaw Fossils Discovered in Texas Shed Light on a 20-Foot-Long Mosasaur

Unearthed last year, the remains could reveal new information on the extinct sea reptile, which crushed mollusks and shelled creatures with its large, round teeth

A researcher holds a juvenile queen conch. Adults can reach up to 12 inches in length.

Scientists Play Matchmaker for Beloved Sea Snails in the Florida Keys

To boost the iconic queen conch’s population, researchers are relocating the heat-stressed creatures to cooler, deeper waters to help them find mates

A jar containing Ascaris, a parasitic worm that affects over one billion people worldwide

Parasites Are Everywhere. Why Do So Few Researchers Study Them?

Aging parasitologists are working hard to inspire more students to enter the field

Crews even used purple glue while adhering the vulcanized rubber track to its asphalt base.

Why Is the Paris Olympics Running Track Purple?

The track incorporates recycled mussel and clam shells in a bid to help make the Summer Games the most sustainable yet

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