| Buccinum undatum Temporal range: 28.5Mya - Present |
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| A live individual of Buccinum undata being held up above the substrate | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Buccinoidea |
| Family: | Buccinidae |
| Subfamily: | Buccininae |
| Tribe: | Buccinini |
| Genus: | Buccinum |
| Species: | B. undatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Buccinum undatum (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Buccinum undatum, known as the common whelk, is a large edible marine gastropod in the family Buccinidae, the "true whelks".
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This species is a familiar part of the marine fauna of the Northern Atlantic and is found on the shores of the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Iceland, some Arctic islands, and North America as far south as New Jersey. They prefer colder temperatures, and cannot survive at temperatures above 29 degrees Celcius [1].
This species is mainly found on soft substrates in the sublittoral zone, and occasionally on the littoral fringe, where it is sometimes found alive at low tide. They do not adapt well to life in the intertidal zone, due to their intolerance for low salinities. If exposed to air they may crawl from their shell, risking desiccation [1].
This species has a solid shell which is very pale. In life the shell is covered in a yellowish-brown periostracum.
The shell surface has a sculpture of vertical wavy folds (hence the name undatum, which means wavy). The wavy folds are crossed by numerous incised spiral lines, some of which are paired. The aperture of the shell is broadly oval and tapers to a siphonal canal. The number of shell whorls is seven or eight.
The maximum height of the shell is 10 cm and the maximum width is 6 cm.
The animal emits a thin and copious slime. [2]
This species of whelk feeds on live bivalves, and are, in turn, preyed upon by several fish (cod, dogfish, etc.) crustaceans.[1] They may benefit from seastar feeding, by eating the extracted bivalve remains abandoned by the seastar. [3]
Larval stages of Stephanostomum baccatum were found in the digestive gland of Buccinum undatum.[4]
Buccinum undatum are eaten widely. Some believe they are best cooked by boiling in sea water. There is a strong fishery on many shores around the world. They are trapped in pots using dogfish and brown crab as bait. [5]
Disappearing or diminishing populations of whelks have been observed since the early 1970’s, especially in the North Sea and the Wadden Sea. Additionally, there have been discoveries of vast beds of empty shells where no living whelks are present. Imposex, the occurrence of male gonads on female whelks, has been detected since the early 1990’s, and is thought to be a product of the shipping industry. [1] Specifically, TBT has been shown to reduce viability of whelk populations. [6]
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