Left Handed Whelk, Lightning Whelk (Busycon contrarium) |
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| Description A large gastropod, with adults reaching over 16 inches. It ranges from New Jersey to Texas. It is easily recognizable since the shell spirals to the left instead of the usual right. The adult shell is grey with a glossy white aperture, however juveniles have stripes in the shell somewhat resembling lightning bolts. Females lay easily recognizable strings of thick, disklike egg capsules, up to a yard in length and an inch and a half in diameter. The whelk anchors the string in the sand when laying, but after the eggs hatch the cases often break loose and wash up on the beach. [Ref. Ruppert and Fox] The whelks typically prey on clams, usually eating one a month. With its large foot, the whelk pries open the clam's shell. Then, with the clam shell held open by the edge of its own shell, the whelk sends its proboscis and toothed, tongue-like radula inside to rasp and eat the softer "meat." [Ref. http://www.assateague.com/lt-whelk.html] |
| Complete
classification tree Family = Melongenidae Superfamily = Muridadea Order = Neogastropoda Subclass = Prosobranchia Class = Gastropoda Phylum = Mollusca |
| Recognition
characteristics - Left handed - Flatter spired than Busycon carica - Longer siphonal canal than Busycon carica - Grayish color with some vertical streaks of violet-brown |
| Local
habitat More estuarine. Found in most creeks. Most often collected around oyster bars. |
| Collection
method By hand on oyster bars at low tide; by seine in shallow creek beds; by trawl in ICW. |
| Links
and references Ruppert, Edward and Fox, Richard. Seashore Animals of the Southeast. University of South Carolina Press, 1988. |
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