Aperture (mollusc)

Three views of a shell of Norelona pyrenaica with the apertural view in the center
A shell of Semicassis pyrum, which has a large aperture and a pronounced parietal callus

The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where the head-foot part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc.

The term aperture is used for the main opening in gastropod shells, scaphopod shells, and also for Nautilus and ammonite shells.

The word is not used to describe bivalve shells, where a natural opening between the two shell valves in the closed position is usually called a gape.

Scaphopod shells are tubular, and thus they have two openings: a main anterior aperture and a smaller posterior aperture.

As well as the aperture, some gastropod shells have additional openings in their shells for respiration; this is the case in some Fissurellidae (keyhole limpets) where the central smaller opening at the apex of the shell is called an orifice, and in the Haliotidae (abalones) where the row of respiratory openings in the shell are also called orifices.