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Radula: The Mollusk's Mighty "Tongue"

The radula is a fascinating anatomical structure found in most mollusks (excluding bivalves). Often likened to a tongue, it plays a crucial role in their feeding habits.

What is a Radula?

• It is a toothed, chitinous ribbon used for scraping or cutting food.
• Located within the mouth, it's part of the odontophore, which can be protruded.
• Supported by a cartilage-like mass called the odontophore.
• Covered in rows of numerous small teeth (denticles).

Function and Feeding

• Used for scraping algae and other food particles off surfaces.
• Can create depressions in rocks for habitat.
• Some mollusks use it to drill holes in prey.
• Snails use the radula to rasp food, rather than bite it off.
• Inside a giant squid's sharp beak is a tongue-like organ called the radula (shown in yellow). Covered with rows of tiny teeth, it rams bite size pieces of food.

Etymology

• The word "radula" comes from the Latin word "radere," meaning "to scrape."

Diversity

• The radula's structure varies. For example, neocoleoid cephalopods have radulae with a maximum of nine elements.
• Different families, like Lepetidae (deep-sea limpets) and Scissurellidae (slit-shell mollusks), have distinct radula morphologies.