10 Important Characteristics of Mollusca are given below:

  1. One of the characteristics of mollusca is having a soft body and is protected by a hard shell that is bilaterally symmetrical.
  2. Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs.
  3. Body without cavity.
  4. Body possesses a through gut with mouth and anus.
  5. Body monomeric and highly variable in form, may possess a dorsal or lateral shells of protein and calcareous spicules.
  6. Has a nervous system with a circum-oesophagal ring, ganglia and paired nerve chords.
  7. Has an open circulatory system with a heart and an aorta.
  8. Has gaseous exchange organs called ctenidial gills.
  9. Has a pair of kidneys.
  10. Reproduction normally sexual and gonochoristic. Ex: – Sepia, Unio, Pila etc.