At all taxonomic levels, gastropods are second only to the insects in terms of their diversity. Gastropods have the greatest numbers of named mollusc species. However, estimates of the total number of gastropod species vary widely, depending on cited sources. The number of gastropod species can be ascertained from estimates of the number of described species of Mollusca with accepted names: about 85,000 (minimum 50,000, maximum 120,000). But an estimate of the total number of Mollusca, including undescribed species, is about 240,000 species. The estimate of 85,000 molluscs includes 24,000 described species of terrestrial gastropods. Different estimates for aquatic gastropods (based on different sources) give about 30,000 species of marine gastropods, and about 5,000 species of freshwater and brackish gastropods. Many deep-sea species remain to be discovered, as only 0.0001% of the deep-sea floor has been studied biologically. The total number of living species of freshwater snails is about 4,000. Recently extinct species of gastropods (extinct since 1500) number 444, 18 species are now extinct in the wild (but still exist in captivity), and 69 species are "possibly extinct". The number of prehistoric (fossil) species of gastropods is at least 15,000 species. In marine habitats, the continental slope and the continental rise are home to the highest diversity, while
