There are dozens of large species of
ANIMATION of the snail's odyssey © Thomas Carefoot 2025

To navigate through the ODYSSEY:
- Select a TOPIC from the menu at the top of the screen
- OR: play the animation to the left
- OR: follow the snail's ODYSSEY by CLICKING on any X-marked invertebrate on the map above
Phylum Mollusca (lit. “soft” or “shellfish” L.)
Class Bivalvia (lit. “two folding doors” L.), referring to the two parts of a clam or scallop shell joined by a flexible hinge
SubClass Heterodonta (lit. “different tooth” G.), referring to the different patterns of hinge teeth and ligaments that characterise the different families
Order Veneroida, containing the common large
Order Myoida, containing burrowing and boring bivalves, piddocks and shipworms, as well as geoducks
The Journal of Shellfish Research in 2015 devoted an entire issue of Vol. 34 (March, Issue 1) to the genus Panopea, focussing on the population dynamics, growth, genetics, and aquaculture of five world species. The issue provides an up-to-date summary of the current state of knowledge of this interesting and commercially important genus. Of the 20 papers presented, about half are of interest to the ODYSSEY.
- 2015 J Shellfish Res Vol. 34 (1): 3-202

In Dublin's fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
She was a fishmonger
And sure, t'was no wonder
For so were her mother and father before
And they wheeled their barrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
She died of a fever
And sure, so one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
Now her ghost wheels her barrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"