Molluscs of the Multiverse: molluscan diversity in Magic: The Gathering

Summary

Rodrigo B. Salvador1, Natan C. Pedro2, Mark A. Carnall3 1Zoology Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. 2Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. 3Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK. Emails: salvador.rodrigo.b (at) gmail (dot) com; natan07 (at) alumni.usp (dot) br; mark.carnall (at) oum.ox.ac (dot) uk Download PDF In our plane of existence, molluscs are the second most diverse animal phylum in sheer number of species, losing only to arthropods. They are, however, perhaps the most diverse animal groups in body plans and shapes. The better-known molluscan groups include forms as disparate as snails and slugs (class Gastropoda), octopuses and squids (class Cephalopoda), and oysters and mussels (class Bivalvia). The lesser-known molluscs go from the worm-like aplacophorans to the armadillo-like chitons and the fang-shaped tusk shells. Also, molluscs come in all sizes, from species smaller than 1 mm all the way to the largest invertebrate alive, the giant squid that can reach over 15 m and is the origin of the legendary Kraken (Salvador & Tomotani, 2014). As arcane specialists on Mollusca and eternal inhabitants of museum galleries and catacombs, we are constantly pondering the existence of molluscan life (intelligent or otherwise) on planes other than our own. Thus, we have discussed squid kids, pixel molluscs, and many others. One of us (Carnall, 2018) has even explored cephalopod diversity across the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering (MTG). Since then, the MTG’s multiverse has witnessed an explosion of molluscan diversity, notably in the cephalopod and gastropod fronts. The kinship of disparate molluscan classes has even been recognised across the multiverse, as seen in the flavour text of Nightwhorl Hermit, which brings bivalves and snails together: “He etches his secrets onto the shimmering shells of mussels, saving them to share with the Great Snail”. To us, that sounde...