Odontophore
Encyclopedia
The odontophore is part of the feeding mechanism in molluscs. It is the cartilage
Cartilage
Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs...

 which underlies and supports the radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...

, a ribbon of teeth. The radula is found in every class of molluscs except for the bivalves.

The feeding apparatus can be extended from the mouth of the animal, and the radular ribbon can slide over the odontophore. By moving the radula and odontophore over a surface, the teeth cut and scoop up food particles and convey them into the mouth, from whence they enter the oesophagus.

The diagrams here show the feeding apparatus of a gastropod. Note however that this is a generalized diagram, the details of which do not necessarily apply to predatory species of gastropods such as the cone snail
Cone snail
Conidae is a taxonomic family of minute to quite large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Conoidea.The snails within this family are sophisticated predatory animals...

s, which have a highly specialized feeding mechanism.
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