Why do some gastropods produce millions of eggs?

Some gastropods produce millions of eggs as a reproductive strategy to compensate for extremely high mortality rates among their offspring.12

In these species, the eggs receive no parental care and are often released into the environment where they are vulnerable to predators and other hazards. Because fewer than 1 percent of these offspring typically survive to reach adulthood, producing a massive number of eggs is necessary to ensure that at least a few individuals survive to reproduce and continue the species.12

This approach represents a balance achieved through natural selection, where the organism invests energy into producing a vast quantity of eggs with minimal individual provisions, rather than investing heavily in the survival of a smaller number of offspring. This is in contrast to species that provide intensive parental care, which generally produce far fewer eggs.12