Dog whelk

Description:

Nassarius fossatus is a predator and scavenger. When the tide is out it crawls across the surface of the mud leaving a distinctive trail. It is able to detect odors with its long proboscis and when it finds something edible, it winds its foot round it and rasps at the surface with its radula. A dead fish in a creek has been found to attract snails from as far away as 30 m (98 ft) downstream. N. fossatus can similarly detect the approach of a predator such as the starfish Pisaster brevispinus. Its reaction is either to crawl away rapidly, rocking its shell from side to side, or do a spectacular flip or series of flips, catapulting itself with its muscular foot

Habitat:

on the foreshore and on sand and mud in shallow water of the pacific ocean. Was seen in longbeach .california