shellless
Lacking outer protection
Shellless describes something that lacks a shell—either naturally or through removal.
A shellless egg has no hard outer covering.
Shellless snails are essentially slugs.
The term appears in cooking and biology: shellless peanuts, shellless mollusks.
It can also describe creatures that have shed or lost their protective covering: a shellless hermit crab searching for a new home.
Naked terrestrial mollusk
- nudibranchShell-shedding marine gastropod
- sea slugShell-less marine gastropod
- soft-bodiedLacking internal skeleton
- octopusEight-limbed sea mollusk
squid · cuttlefish · sea cucumber · jellyfish · sea hare · flatworm · leech · earthworm
Without safeguard or shield
- uncoveredMade visible or known
- bareLacking any covering
- defenselessWithout means to resist
- vulnerableOpen to attack
exposed · open · susceptible · unshielded · unguarded · naked · accessible · assailable
slug
Naked terrestrial mollusk
- nudibranchShell-shedding marine gastropod
- sea slugShell-less marine gastropod
- soft-bodiedLacking internal skeleton
octopus · squid · cuttlefish · sea cucumber · jellyfish · sea hare · flatworm · leech · earthworm · planarian
unprotected
Without safeguard or shield
- uncoveredMade visible or known
- bareLacking any covering
- defenselessWithout means to resist
vulnerable · exposed · open · susceptible · unshielded · unguarded · naked · accessible · assailable · undefended