Dear Paul, dear others
 
there might be about 120. 000 of counted names, but some
of them are surely synonyma, so it's hard to get out how many
species there are in realty without counting exactly and to have
studied the synonyms. So I think there shuld be less than 100.000 species. And I think splitters will have more species.
with best shelling greetings and waiting for the 100.001th
species
yours sincerly Helmut Nisters
 
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> Hi Carol,
> When I took undergrad invertebrate zoology, most of the textbooks
> stated that there were "somewhat over 80,000 described species of
> Mollusca".  However, that was shortly after mollusks were discovered.
>  Most of what I have read recently puts the number somewhere between
> 100,000 and 120,000 described species.  Of course, not all of them
> have shells, but most do.  The same old textbook says there are an
> additional 35,000 described fossil species.  I wouldn't be surprised
> if that number has increased by a factor greater than that of the
> living species.  The mollusks are the second largest phylum of
> animals, exceeded in numbers only by the Arthropods.  Of course, the
> Arthropods get top billing largely thanks to the inclusion of that
> one mega-class of animals we all know and love so well - the insects.
> Paul M.
>