Soft-bodied mollusks are the second-largest group of animals on the planet, after the phylum Arthropoda, with nearly 100,000 described species worldwide. These invertebrates encompass an incredibly diverse group of creatures. Characteristic of their hard exoskeleton, some mollusks with distinct shell coverings like snails, clams, oysters, and scallops are apparent. Still, others are not, as they lack a visible shell like the octopus, squid, and sea slug. Although mollusks make up 23% of all marine organisms, many of them have adapted to living in freshwater and on land. Found in nearly every body of water on earth, both fresh and salt, mollusks range in size from the world’s smallest snail in Borneo to the giant squid found in the deepest parts of the ocean.

No matter where you go, saltwater or fresh, you will be diving with mollusks in one form or another. Popular mollusk dives include the colorful giant clams of Australia, the nudibranch capitals of the world in the Philippines and Indonesia, and the giant octopus of the Pacific Northwest. Diving with mollusks is always a fun encounter. Click the map below to explore all the different places on earth where you can dive with mollusks.