The living creatures that are in their natural habitats on the seashore are crabs, hermit crabs, limpets, snails, periwinkles, mussels, sea stars, chitons, sea urchins and sea slugs. Crabs are crustaceans that have five pairs of legs, the first of which is modified into claws. They are known as decapods and belong to the infra order Brachyura, which literally means short tail. Hermit crabs are called hermit crabs because they protect their abdomens by sheltering them in empty seashells. The abdomen of a hermit crab is soft.
Limpets have flat shells which are in the shape of cones. The main characteristic of snails is their proverbial sloth and their shells, which form a coil on their backs. A periwinkle is a type of snail. The external shells of mussels are divided into two halves; hence they are called bivalve molluscs. Sea stars are different from starfish. Starfish has five distinct arms. A sea star does not have a movable skeleton, but it has a hydraulic water vascular system instead. Chitons are molluscs with calcareous plates on their shells and muscular feet which enable them to cling onto rocks. Sea urchins are creatures that have spines. Sea slugs are snails that have soft bodies. The adult sea slugs do not have shells on their bodies.
Limpets have flat shells which are in the shape of cones. The main characteristic of snails is their proverbial sloth and their shells, which form a coil on their backs. A periwinkle is a type of snail. The external shells of mussels are divided into two halves; hence they are called bivalve molluscs. Sea stars are different from starfish. Starfish has five distinct arms. A sea star does not have a movable skeleton, but it has a hydraulic water vascular system instead. Chitons are molluscs with calcareous plates on their shells and muscular feet which enable them to cling onto rocks. Sea urchins are creatures that have spines. Sea slugs are snails that have soft bodies. The adult sea slugs do not have shells on their bodies.
