I have been wanting to do Whelk Wednesday for a week now, which for me is a very long time! ;) But, I didn't have time yesterday and I have time today (because we have a snow day here), so here is Whelk Wednesday, a day late!
There are several species of whelk that live on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the US. I have specimens of four species in my collection
From left to right: Channeled Whelk, Knobbed Whelk, Pear Whelk and Lightning Whelk. Notice how the Lightning Whelk (the one on the very right) opens to the left instead of to the right as all the other shells do. This makes the Lightning Whelk a left-handed shell and all the others- right-handed shells.
This is the Lightning Whelk- if you hold it like shown in the right photo, with the aperture (opening) towards yourself and the spire (the top) pointing up, you will see that the aperture is on the left side of the shell. The Lightning Whelk is, I think, the only left-handed shell on this coast of the States. I found most of my Lightning Whelks on Sanibel Island, but they can be found as far North as North Carolina.
Now here is the Channeled Whelk, it is a right-handed shell because the aperture is on the right. I found this guy on Assateague Island, VA. It is common in shallow bays in southern England and was at one point used as food.
And here is a Knobbed Whelk. I found it on the same trip to Assateague Island that I found the Channeled Whelk above. These mollusks are also pretty common, and although they live in the north (New England and Mid-Atlantic) they can be found further down south in North Carolina and Florida because the long-shore currents tumble them down there
Lastly is the Pear Whelk. I have found all of my specimens of this shell on Sanibel Island. It can also be known as the Fig Whelk. This species has been divided into 3 subspecies but I am not sure how to identify and separate them. So, just a fun fact.
All the whelk shells above are about the same size- 1.5 to 2.5 inches. However, the Lightning Whelk can grow to 15 inches, the Channeled Whelk to 7 in., the Knobbed Whelk to 8 in. and the Pear Whelk to 5 inches.
Lastly, here is a photo of all of my shell ID books. They are all helpful, but I use 'Florida Seashells: A Beachcomber's Guide" (top row, second from right) and "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells" (middle of the bottom row) the most. :D
Have a wonderful day,
Yaroshelllava!!!!!
