Gasteropoda

Gasteropoda (Gr., 'belly-footed'), a large class of molluscs, including snails, buckies, whelks, cowries, limpets, and the like. Along with the cuttle-fishes or Cephalopods, and the yet more closely allied 'butterfly-snails' or Pteropods, the Gasteropods are contrasted with the bivalves or Lamellibranchs by the more or less prominent development of the head-region, and by the presence of a rasping ribbon or tongue on the floor of the mouth.