Digestive system of gastropods the food forward in a steady stream from the mouth. Usually, the food is embedded in a string of mucus produced in the mouth, creating a coiled conical mass in the style sac. This action, rather than muscular peristalsis, is responsible for the movement of food through the gastropod digestive tract. Two diverticular glands open into the stomach, and secrete enzymes that help to break down the food. In the more primitive species, these glands may also absorb the food particles directly and digest them intracellularly. The hepatopancreas is the largest organ in stylommatophoran gastropods. It produces enzymes, and absorbs
Development of the digestive system develop as outgrowths of the endodermal epithelium of the upper part of the duodenum. Since the upper part of the foregut is divided by the tracheoesophageal septum into the esophagus posteriorly and the trachea and lung buds anteriorly, deviation of the septum may result in abnormal openings between the trachea and esophagus. The epithelial liver cords and biliary system growing out into the septum transversum differentiate into parenchyma. Hematopoietic cells (present in the liver in greater numbers before birth than afterward), Kupffer cells, and connective tissue cells originate in the mesoderm. The pancreas develops from a ventral bud and a