Look Alikes
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
How to Distinguish from Similar Species: Other Nucella have no frilly lamellae and rarely exceed 3 cm in length. Nucella ostrina has alternating large and small spiral ridges. N. canaliculata has many spiral ridges of similar size.
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Habitat
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
Rocky substrate, commonly found on mussel beds
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Distribution
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
Geographical Range: Nucella lamellosa is found from the Bering Strait to central California.
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Habitat
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
Depth Range: Low intertidal to mid intertidal
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Comprehensive Description
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
Like all members of family Nucellidae, this species has a strong shell with a well-developed spire, a short siphonal notch or canal but no anal notch. The shell is not highly polished. The animal has a horny operculum. The shell of Nucella lamellosa grows up to 50 mm high; this species is highly variable in shape, size, and color. Some Nucella lamellosa have smooth shells while others have frills with spiral bands as well. Color ranges from white, orange, to brown, or even rarely purple. Some shells have large, frilly lamellae as axial sculpture, though these lamellae are often entirely absent. Spiral sculpture consists of 1 or 2 prominent ridges on each whorl. The whorls are flattened near the sutures, making them appear angled. Length up to 10 cm.
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Comprehensive Description
provided by Invertebrates of the Salish Sea
Biology/Natural History: A most peculiar species because of its ability to vary so much in shape, color, and texture from one individuals to the next. This makes it very hard to key out. It is one of the most common intertidal whelks in the Pacific Northwest. Nucella lamellosa is a carnivore, feeding on acorn barnacles and mussels. After locating its prey the whelk uses its radula to scrape through the shell and eat out the soft flesh inside. This snail may be found congregating in large groups to breed in the spring and summer. Their eggs are in oatlike capsules which are attached by stalks to the rocks In the study by Sorte and Hofmann, thermotolerance of different Nucella species along the coast was found to be correlated with the latitude range and tidal height each species occupies. N. ostrina, which occurs higher in the intertidal than does N. canaliculata in Oregon and does not extend as far north, had higher heat tolerance than did N. canaliculata. N. emarginata, which extends the farthest south, and N. ostrina, which lives higher in the intertidal, recovered more quickly from thermal exposure than did N. canaliculata and N. lamellosa, which live lower in the intertidal, and N. lima, which has a more northern range. These differences in heat tolerance may be related to HSP70 molecular chaperones. The famous purple dye from the city of Tyre, that colored royal Roman robes, was made from a relative of Nucella. The snails were ground up in a stone mortar; different combinations made different shades of purple. The dye should be fixed with lemon juice as a mordant. The American species produce a much less brilliant purple than do the Mediterranean species.
- license
- cc-by-nc-sa
- copyright
- Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory
Nucella lamellosa
provided by wikipedia EN
Nucella lamellosa, commonly known as the frilled dogwinkle or wrinkled purple whelk,[2] is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[1] This species occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending in the intertidal zone from the Aleutian Islands southward to central California.
Description
Nucella lamellosa is a large snail with a strong shell growing to a length of 100 mm (4 in) and width of 50 mm (2 in). The shell has no more than seven whorls and has a horny operculum. The spire is well developed, with a short notch to accommodate the siphon. This snail is rather variable in colour, shape and surface texture. Some specimens are smooth, others rough and others have frilled lamellae (angular plates). Some of these features may be as a result of abrasion and wave action, and when present, the spiral sculpture takes the form of one or two ridges per whorl, the whorls being flattened near their joints making them appear to be angled. This snail can be white, grey, brown or orange, occasionally purplish, and is sometimes spirally banded.[2]
Distribution
This whelk is found in shallow waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from the Bering Strait and the Aleutian Islands to central California. It is found intertidally on rocks from the mid to lower shore and is one of the commonest whelks in this habitat in the Pacific Northwest.[2]
Ecology
This whelk is a predator, feeding largely on mussels and barnacles. The radula is used to scrape through the shell of the prey and the soft tissue is extracted. The whelk is itself eaten by crabs such as the red rock crab Cancer productus and the seastar Pisaster ochraceus.[2] In the presence of the crabs, there is a tendency for the whelk's shell to grow thicker and be more robust, and thus less easy for the crab to crush.[3] This may be as a result of chemicals released into the water by the crabs because the thickness of the whelk's shell seems unaffected by the presence of Carcinus maenas, a recently introduced invasive species of crab that also feeds on whelks.[3]
A different response in shell morphology was evinced in the presence of the seastar. Here, the shell tended to get longer with a high spire, enabling the whelk to retract its soft tissues as far as possible from the seastar.[4] If both crabs and seastars were present, the shell phenotype that tended to evolve reflected the response to the predator that caused the greatest mortality. The whelks also show behavioural responses to both crabs and seastars by seeking refuge.[4]
Breeding takes place in hidden locations such as under rocks, with many whelks congregating to mate and lay eggs in capsules which resemble clusters of oats as they dangle from the substrate.[2]
References
- license
- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
Nucella lamellosa: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Nucella lamellosa, commonly known as the frilled dogwinkle or wrinkled purple whelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. This species occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending in the intertidal zone from the Aleutian Islands southward to central California.
- license
- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
