Mollusks: soft, squishy, slimy, and in some cases tasty animals. Mollusks have a soft body that may be protected by a hard shell. Some mollusks have hard outer shells, such as snails, while others have a light internal shell (squids) or no shell at all (octopuses).

There are three characteristics that all mollusks have in common. First of all, mollusks have a mantle. This is their soft outer tissue layer. The mantle, in some species is what produces the hard outer shell. Secondly, mollusks have a muscular foot, which they use

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mollusks Mollusks, Bivalvia Class, fresh water, muscular foot, mollusks soft, external fertilization, circulatory system, hard outer, scrape algae, fertilization occurs,
Approximate Word count = 391
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)