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Busycon contrarium
This is the egg case of the Lightning Whelk
Washed up on the shore: Siesta Key, FL
The lightning whelk, scientific name Busycon contrarium, is an edible species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Buccinidae, the busycon whelks. This species has a left-handed or sinistral shell. It eats mostly bivalves, sucking their mass up with its proboscis.Wikipedia
Spotted on Mar 2, 2012
Submitted on Mar 2, 2012
15 Comments
Lovely picture and fantastic name.
:D
Thanks Ava...can't believe I had this in arthropods!!
I've moved this snail (egg) from the Arthropod category to the Other category for you. Snails and slugs are Mollusks. Arthropods have an exoskelaton and jointed limbs in at least one phase of their life. Think dragonfly, bee, crab, and ant.
Where do you work Misha?
We find them often at work and I've preserved many of them for use in educational programs. When you find them washed up on shore, if there are not holes in the small discs you often CAN see tiny little baby whelks inside. That one you found is HUGE!
Also - LOVE the description of "mermaid's necklace." As a mermaid, I approve!
Awesome sighting! I have seen these before and was amazed to learn that they were egg cases! Very cool-thanks for posting!
I've never heard it called that before. I like it.
Wow!
How cool is that!
I read that it generally attached to the ocean floor and each section contains many tiny whelks...I'm so sorry that I did not look within. During storms the egg case is uprooted and floats to shore.
Amazing!
Maybe add to the Eggs of the World mission?
This is so beautiful and interesting. Is it empty, or are there whelk eggs in it?
Make me remember about Mermaid & Barnacle Boy at Spongebob! Nice shoot!
Very interesting! And I love its name.