Buccinum undatum Linnaeus 1758

The marbled body of the whelk is encased in a calcified shell, which ranges from 6-10 cm in length. The shell is spiraled, and lacks the nacreous surface layer of some other gastropods. The body is composed of three basic parts: the foot, the head, and a visceral mass. The foot extends from the shell next to the head and is used for locomotion and grasping prey or a substrate when feeding on algae. The head includes a mouth, from which the radula, an elongated tongue-like apparatus bearing three central teeth and two rows of transverse teeth, is extended for feeding. There are also two cephalic tentacles which have some tactile sensation. These tentacles and the osphradia, a structure that does not emerge from the shell but is positioned at the end of a siphon pointing in the direction of the current, have chemoreceptors which aid in scavenging. Whelks are either male or female, with gonads positioned deep within the shell behind the body because of the torsion of the spiral shell. Males of the species have a penis for sperm transfer (George and George 1979, Grzimek 1972, Brusca 1990).

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Waved whelks occupy coastlines within the range described above from the tide level to 180 meters depth. They live in the mud and sand of these areas on the ocean floor (Ghiselin 2000, George-George 1979, Grzimek 1972, Anderson 1988).

Aquatic Biomes: coastal

The waved whelk, or common northern whelk, can be found in the North Atlantic along the coastline of North America from New Jersey northward, the coastline of Greenland, the coastline of Europe from France northward, the coastlines of Norway, the British Isles, Iceland, and the coastlines of some islands in the Arctic Ocean (George and George 1979, Grzimek 1972, Ghiselin 2000).

Biogeographic Regions: arctic ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native )

The waved whelk is a carnivore, and feeds on crabs, polychaete worms, bivalves, and dead organisms. Water enters the siphon which is pointed in the direction of the current and the osphridia's chemoreceptors detect for prey. The whelk moves to the prey using its foot, and uses it to grasp the shell in the case of a crab or bivalve. The radula is extended from the mouth and if the prey has a shell, the radula's teeth are used to drill a beveled hole through which the radula can extract the body matter. Radular teeth of whelks are solid and do not contain poison as in the case of cones, but the tongue may confer a secreted acidic mucus to the shell that is being bored. Digestion is primarily extracellular and takes place within a digestive gland at the end of a long esophagus that empties into a stomach (Anderson 1988, Alexander 1979, Brusca 1990, Ghiselin 2000).

On the coast of North America fishermen often use the body of the whelk without the shell as bait for cod. In the past fishermen have been known to use the egg capsule of the whelk as "sea soap" to clean their hands. In Europe and Scandinavia the waved whelk serves as a food source for humans. We also receive the indirect benefit of the scavenging habits of the whelk in the disposal of carrion on the ocean floor (Grzinek 1972, Brusca 1990).

N/A

One interesting note is that hermit crabs frequently use the empty shells of whelks (Grzinek 1972).

The northern whelk is found readily in along the coasts of its geographic range in large numbers, especially in North America, probably due in part to its excellent and complex reproductive adaptations (Anderson 1988, Ghiselin 2000, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 2000, Sea World Education Dep. 2000).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

Sexes are separate, and the male has a penis which transfers sperm to the female, where internal fertilization occurs. There are two types of sperm produced by the male whelk. The first is the viable euspermatozoa, which are the functional gametes that will unite with the egg in the reproductive tract of the female. Accompanying these are paraspermatozoa, which have multiple external tails and help to control and assist in the movement of the viable sperm, as well as provide them with nutrients. After fertilized eggs emerge from the oviduct, they are coated in mucus and approximately 1000 are contained in a flexible capsule. These capsules are then released into piles. Of the 1000 eggs in a capsule, only about 10 undergo full development, the rest providing nutrition. Snails hatch from these capsules fully developed (Anderson 1988, Grzimek 1972).

This whelk is carnivorous, and feeds on polychaete worms and other molluscs, such as bivalves. It uses the edge of its shell to prize open bivalve shells (2), and may drill holes into the shell of its prey in order to access the soft tissues inside. It also scavenges for carrion, which it detects by smell from some distance (2). When searching for food, whelks extend a tube known as the 'siphon', which is used to funnel water to the gills, and leads to a sensory organ used for smelling prey (4). The sexes are separate; breeding takes place from October to May, and the eggs are attached to rocks, shells and stones in protective capsules. Each capsule contains as many as 1000 eggs, and the capsules of several females are grouped together in large masses of over 2000 (2). Only a few of these eggs will develop; most eggs are used as a source of food by the growing embryos (3). There is no free-swimming larval stage (4), instead, crawling young emerge from the capsules after several months (3). Empty egg masses frequently wash up on beaches, and are often mistaken for sponges (2). They are known as 'sea wash balls' because they were once used to wash with (3). Common whelks are thought to live for 10 years. They are fished commercially using traps; most whelks are exported to the Far East (2).

Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.

This large, common whelk has a stout, yellowish-brown shell with lighter and darker spiral areas (3). It has 7-8 whorls, and a large oval aperture (opening), which tapers to a point (3).

Found from the extreme low water mark of the intertidal zone down to depths of 1200m (3). It lives on soft sediments including muddy sand and gravel as well as on rocks (3).

Common around all coasts of Britain (3), it also has a wide distribution in northwest Europe (2).

Common and widespread; not listed under any conservation designations (2).

This species is currently widespread and not threatened.

You have probably never seen a living whelk. Nevertheless, the whelk is a large sea snail belonging to the normal benthic fauna of the North Sea. It lives at deeper sea depths. You usually only find the empty shells on the beach sometimes occupied by a hermit crab. This snail is very sensitive to overfishing, churning up of the sea floor and toxins, such as tributyltin. Due to a combination of all these factors, the whelk has practically disappeared from the Dutch coastal region and the Wadden Sea.

An extremely variable species, in shell size as well as in weight, sculpture, shape and colour. Shell solid, mature individuals especially robust and heavy. Periostracum hispid in juveniles, missing from most of shell in adults. Spire of seven or eight tumid whorls, last whorl large (about 70% of shell height); sutures deep. Sculpture of strong crescentic costae, spiral striae and growth lines. Costae do not extend to base of last whorld; 12-15 on penultimate whorl. Spiral striae numerous, major ridges separated by variable number of minor ridges to form a regular pattern. A thick spiral keel, the siphonal fasciole, runs from base of shell to umbilical region. Aperture broadly oval. The outer lip describes a high arc to tip of short, siphonal canal. Inner lip reflected over columella and large area of parietal region of last whorl.

Usually around 60 mm but sometimes much larger (120 mm).

Sublitoral, they are poor adapted to intertidal conditions. From below the low tide line to a depth of 100 m. Prefers sand, sandy mud or stony bottoms.Whelks are active predators that mainly feed on live bivalves (Nielsen, 1975) and identify the location of food sources by chemoreception (Bailey & Laverak, 1966). Sexual maturity is reported to occur after 5 to 7 years depending on the sex of the individual and other factors. In the North Sea whelks reproduce in the autumn. The spawning period can be different in other areas (Martel et al., 1986). Females retreat to hard substrate areas to deposit their egg capsules. Often several females will attach their eggs to the same egg mass. The eggs hatch in winter into benthic juvenile snails, rendering a limited dispersion of offspring. Whelks have a fairly long life span of at leas 10 years (Santarelli et al., 1986).Living in moderate or cold sea temperatures. This species responds adversely to elevated temperatures, while 29 C is lethal (Gowanloch, 1927). Tolerance for low salinity is limited (Russell-Hunter & Russell-Hunter, 1963), with a lower limit at a salinity of 2.0% (Staaland, 1972).

Whelks have traditionally been fished for food in several countries around the North Sea, either by baited pots along the coast of East Anglia and Lincolnshire (Hancock, 1967) or by special trawl nets in and around the German and Dutch Wadden Sea and in southwestern Dutch waters. They are also fished for food along the French and English Channel coast. From the central North Sea, whelks are mainly landed as a bycatch. There is a newly emerging fishery in the Gulf of Maine targeting the waved or common whelk. Whelks in Maine have traditionally been landed as an incidental by-catch of the lobster fishery, with only a handful of harvesters utilizing specially designed whelk traps in a directed effort. FAO's Yearbook of Fishery Statistics reports a range of yearly production from around 15852 mt in 1995 to 17988 mt in 1999 (Belgium, Channel Is., Denmark, Faroe Is., France, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Spain, UK) in Northeast Atlantic. As food in Europe. In USA the product is typically shipped live for mostly ethnic (oriental) markets in Boston and New York City. A cottage industry also exists that produces pickled meats, and creates shell ornaments.

Buccinum undatum, the common whelk or the waved buccinum, is a large, edible marine gastropod in the family Buccinidae, the "true whelks".

Range: 76°N to 36.8°N; 83°W to 0°W. Distribution: Greenland; Greenland: West Greenland; Canada; Canada: Queen Elizabeth Islands, Baffin Island, Labrador, Newfoundland, Quebec, New Brunswick; USA: Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia

intertidal, bathyal, infralittoral and circalittoral of the Gulf and estuary