![]() ![]() Lack of relatively complete species databases prevents similar assessments for terrestrial and freshwater mollusks, but, using less rigorous methods, I estimate that there are 70,000 to 76,000 described species of recent Mollusca. The validity of this confidence interval depends on the WoRMS database and the ANSP collection not having correlated weaknesses. Overall marine molluscan diversity is estimated at 43,600 ± 900 species, where 900 is a 95% confidence interval. The WoRMS database has about 1,200 duplicate or extraneous listings for mollusk species and is missing about 1,300 (3%). Random samples of names were scored for presence or absence in WoRMS, with standard errors calculated from the binomial distribution. I assessed the completeness of molluscan species listings in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) by comparing it to a standardized inventory of the species represented in the Malacology collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP). Comprehensive lists of species are valued as a basis for systematic revisions and for comparing diversity across taxa, but it is less appreciated that they also provide a means for statistical sampling of biodiversity databases. Ultimately the best way to gauge diversity is explicit enumeration: actual listing of known species. Most estimates are unverifiable, not being based on reproducible methods. Modern estimates of species-level diversity in the recent Mollusca range from 34,000 to 120,000 described species, with total diversity including undescribed species often cited as 200,000. For practical reasons, only games that had an international or at least an English-language release are included in the following list. ![]() Herein we number some of these appearances and take the opportunity to discuss the real-world inspirations that probably originated these 16-bit representations. ![]() Mollusks showing up in 16-bit era games were naturally part of underwater scenery art, but some were given fairly important roles as memorable characters, plot devices, fierce antagonists and fearsome bosses. Higher resolution allowed for digital artists to depict characters and draw backgrounds with richer detail. In the late 80s, the so-called fourth generation of consoles (the 16-bit era) began, and with it, many vividly colored games came to be (Kent, 2001). In modern culture, more specifically in the history of video games, the presence of mollusks is a remarkable one. They are present in ordinary objects, such as stamps and coins (Robertson, 2011 Todd, 2011). Naturally, in our everyday lives, some of us portray mollusks and their shells in paintings and decoration. It is not surprising that they were, and still are an important part of different cultures everywhere. Used as currency, tools, jewelry, medicine, and extensively collected and depicted in many different ways, mollusks are strongly tied to human history. These soft-bodied and most often shell-bearing animals present a wide variety of shapes, colors and behaviors that has fascinated mankind for ages. Humanity has described more than 80,000 species of snails and slugs (gastropods), clams, oysters and scallops (bivalves), squids and octopuses (cephalopods), tusk shells (scaphopods) and their less-known kin (e.g., polyplacophorans and aplacophorans), and many more are waiting to be discovered (Chapman, 2009). Mollusks are one of the most diverse groups of organisms known to science.
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