Editing Gastropoda (section)

==Life cycle==
[[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.233518 - Aplysia spec. - Aplysiidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg|thumb|Egg strings of an Aplysia species.]]
{{main|Reproductive system of gastropods}}
{{see also|Mating of gastropods}}

[[Mating of gastropods#Courtship|Courtship]] is a part of the behavior of [[mating]] gastropods with some [[pulmonate]] families of land snails creating and utilizing [[love dart]]s, the throwing of which have been identified as a form of [[sexual selection]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/46/4/419/633995|title=Tales of two snails: sexual selection and sexual conflict in Lymnaea stagnalis and Helix aspersa|first=Joris M.|last=Koene|date=August 1, 2006|journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology|volume=46|issue=4|pages=419–429|via=academic.oup.com|doi=10.1093/icb/icj040|pmid=21672754|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901225823/https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/46/4/419/633995|archive-date=September 1, 2019|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The main aspects of the life cycle of gastropods include:
* Egg laying and the eggs of gastropods
* The [[embryonic development]] of gastropods
* The larvae or larval stadium: some gastropods may be [[trochophore]] and/or [[veliger]]
* [[Estivation]] and [[hibernation]] (each of these are present in some gastropods only)
* The growth of gastropods
* Courtship and mating in gastropods: [[fertilization]] is internal or external according to the species. External fertilization is common in marine gastropods.