Common Whelk Egg Cases

Caerulea sars g o 1878 buccinum undatum var.

Common whelk egg cases. The most common is called the lightning whelk which grows to about 16 inches long. 2ap5jf6 rm dog whelk or winkle nucella lapillus eggs exposed above extreme low spring tide on the glamorgan coast south wales. This egg cases has distinctive frilled sides. Usually one juvenile whelk emerge id.

Knobbed whelks lay two sets of eggs. A relatively stocky egg case with short tendrils. The egg case is a long thin necklace of papery packets. You can tell if you re looking at a lightning whelk shell because the opening is always on the left.

The cuckoo ray is a deeper water species and so its egg cases wash up relatively rarely. Adams 1855 two cases and several juvenile shells. This is the egg case string of the knobbed whelk busycon carica. A single female laid the entire string of egg cases and she was probably about 6 7 inches in length.

Some like the channeled and knobbed whelks produce a string of egg capsules that maybe 2 3 feet long and each capsule has 20 100 eggs inside which hatch into miniature whelks. The knobbed whelk lays its eggs inside a stiff case that s designed to keep predators away. Note how the edges of each individual capsule comes together as if pinched giving each capsule a sharp edge. Whelks and conchs may look similar but don t be fooled.

Internally fertilized eggs are surrounded by a transparent mass of albumen a gel like material and are laid in protective flat rounded egg capsules joined to form a paper like chain of egg cases commonly called a mermaid s necklace. Whelk egg case mating and egg laying occur during the spring and fall migration. These look like umbilical cords or a snake s shedded skin. Buccinum acuminatum broderip 1830 dubious synonym buccinum amaliae verkrüzen 1878 buccinum donovani sars g o 1878 buccinum meridionale verkrüzen 1884 buccinum pictum verkrüzen 1881 dubious synonym buccinum undatum var.

This is the egg case of the channeled whelk busycotypus canaliculatus. An egg case of the common whelk known as a sea wash ball is often washed up on the strandline after winter storms. Single case plus juvenile shell king s crown melongena corona gemlin 1791 murex eggcases apple murex phyllonotus pomum gemlin 1791 single case plus several juveniles lace murex chicoreus florifer dilectus a. They re two very different creatures.

The egg capsule allows the young whelk embryos to develop and provides protection. Egg cases the egg cases are most likely those of busycon carica gmelin 1791 commonly known as the knobbed whelk although folks from north carolina and northward call it a conch. Flexuosa jeffreys 1867.