ABSTRACT
This chapter examines molluscan feeding and digestive systems, the morphological innovations associated with different feeding strategies, and the physiological aspects of digestion. Many feeding strategies have evolved in molluscs. The plesiomorphic mode of feeding in molluscs was probably unselective microphagous feeding. Deposit-feeding autobranchs deal with a broader range of particle size than the suspension-feeding taxa from which they evolved. Suspension feeding consists of three main processes: direction of water to, and its movement through, the suspension-feeding structure; removal of potential food particles from the water; and transport of the potential food particles to the mouth. The digestive gland, plesiomorphically consists of two large lobes made up of tubules that coalesce to communicate with the stomach by way of one, two, or several ciliated ducts. Intracellular digestion occurs in the digestive cells of many molluscs, but by its very nature is limited to dealing with very small particles.
