In the ocean, mudflats and mangrove areas are homes to hundreds of mollusk species. Some live on the tree roots and branches just at water line. Others bury themselves in the mud or sand bottom, emerging to feed, often at night or at low tide. There are mollusks which live only on coral reefs, and those which inhabit the ocean depths. Some, like the slit shell and the Neopilina, were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered in these depths.
Shells live on seaweed, on coral holdfasts, under rocks, buried in the roots of undersea grass beds.
Some shells even float throughout their entire lives on a raft of bubbles. Each has a specialized habitat and an ecological niche. This is an official COA Conch-Net Web Page hosted by the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. This page has been accessed 62371 times since 21 June 1996.