Buccinum undatum
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| Buccinum undatum | ||||||||||||||
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| Buccinum undatum (Linnaeus, 1758) |
Buccinum undatum or the "common whelk", is a large colder-water edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.
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[edit] Range of distribution
This species is a familiar part of the marine fauna in the United Kingdom, and is also found in France, Norway, Iceland, some Arctic islands, and the coast of North America as far south as New Jersey.
[edit] Habitat
This species is mainly found on soft substrates in the sublittoral zone, and occasionally on the littoral fringe, where it can sometimes be found live at low tide.
[edit] Shell description
This species has a solid shell which is yellowish-brown in colour and has a sculpture of vertical wavy folds (hence the name undatum, which mean wavy). These wavy folds are crossed by numerous spiral lines. The aperture of the shell is broadly oval and tapers to a siphonal canal. The number of shell whorls is 7 or 8.
The maximum height of the shell is 10 cm (4 inches) and the maximum width is 6 cm (2 1/2 inches)
[edit] The common whelk as a food item
Whelks of the species Buccinum undatum are a seafood eaten in many places around the world. They appear as a dish in seafood restaurants. Some believe they are best cooked by boiling in sea water.
[edit] References
- MarLIN: The Marine Life Information Network for Britain & Ireland
- R. Tucker Abbott & Percy A. Morris, 1995, Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the West Indies, Houghton Mifflin, Boston
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