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About the Little Pear Whelk Seashell

Photos and info about the Pear whelk, or Fig whelk, seashell which I find regularly when out on the boat.

Pear whelks (Busycotypus spiratus) are cute little seashells and they can be colorful. They resemble the lightning whelk, before it grows big. But the Pear whelk has it’s opening on the right side, like most gastropods.  This one is also called a Fig whelk and it’s max length is 5.5 inches.  In Florida it is common along any shoreline.

In this first photo you can see the operculum (trap door) which is a hard piece that closes the mollusk up inside it’s home.  The snail is beginning to come out of the shell because I picked it up from the shelly bottom where he had been resting quietly.

I expected to see a hermit crab inside, and was delighted to see the creature who made the shell instead.  This water is very shallow as you can probably tell, so he was living close to shore.  I snapped this shot and put him back down without bothering him further.

pear whelk mollusk
Living Pear Whelk With Mollusk

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Above: Found this pear whelk while walking along a deserted beach in the backwater area of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). I’m guessing they prefer the calmer waters near the islands and that is why I never find them along the ocean beach.

In the photo below you can see how shells can look in the wild. They are not all that pretty when covered in mud and slime. I knew the type by the shape of the shell.  Yup, hermit crab inside.

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Slime covered Pear Whelk Shell

I’ve never collected one of these shells because every one I’ve encountered (except for the live one in my first photo on this page) has been inhabited by a hermit crab! The shells are small and easy to carry on the back of the crab.

yellow pear whelk seashell
Pretty yellow shell

I just loved the pretty yellow color of this Pear. It stood out among the muddy bottom. It was moving along on the back of it’s new owner. Can you guess? Haha!

Below you can see the crab peeking out.  This is what I often encounter.  I think there are more hermit crabs in my area than there are seashells!

pear whelk seashell
Pear whelk seashell with hermit crab inside

Small shells like these are not the only place you will find hermit crabs. I recently pulled up a beautiful big knobbed whelk with such an owner.

About Olive Shells You May Find in Florida

Olive shells are easy to identify and can have a beautiful shiny surface.

Olive shells are easy to identify. They are long and smooth measuring from tiny to 2.7 inches in length.  The shell on the right in my photo below is nearly as large as they get.  Their spire (top swirl) is small and the opening (aperture) is a slit all along the side of the shell.

The Lettered Olive (Olive sayana) is the one I am showing in my photographs on this page. It is the largest of the olives.  The other types are the Netted Olive (Oliva reticularis) and the Variable Dwarf Olive (Olivella utica).  The Netted olive is found in the southeastern part of Florida only.

My shells were collected (empty – nothing living inside) from Florida beaches.  Most of my olives are dull, worn and broken, but pretty ones can be collected from the Gulf beaches where the lack of waves tends to preserve the beauty of seashells (see my last photo on this page).

lettered olive shells
Olive shells, found 12.15.17 along Indian River Lagoon in water at low tide

Other Types of Olive Shell

The Netted Olive (Olive reticularis) is smaller and is named for it’s net-like markings.  It is more often found in the Caribbean or southeastern area of Florida.  See a photo here at the Marine Species Identification site.

There is also a small seashell called the Variable dwarf olive (Olivella mutica) which is less than an inch in length.  To my knowledge I have never seen one.  But you can see it on the Conchology Inc. page.

The Shells I Have Found

Where I live, on Florida’s east central coast, I rarely see the olive shell, so when I come across one, it’s a big deal to me!

The one below was alive, and found just above the water line at Ponce Inlet.  You can see the mollusk just peeking out in the photo on the right.  The shell was a beautiful dark purple-brown color. I took some photos and put this one back.

live lettered olive
Beautiful little lettered olive shell
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Tiny lettered olive shell with mollusk inside

Living shells or recently abandoned ones will have the best color.  Once they are rolled with the waves, continuously scratched by the sand, or washed ashore to sit in the hot sun, their color will fade and the shells can break.

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Lettered Olives – typical of what I find

Because finding an olive in any form is fairly rare where I live, I collect all of them, except the ones being used by the owner! Then, I take a photo and let it be.  Broken and old worn shells have their own appeal because they have a history. I always wonder what broke the shell? How did the snail die? How old is this shell and where has it been?

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Worn and broken olive shell

Olive shells can be found along southern US coasts including all around the state of Florida.  It is the state shell of South Carolina where this shell is prolific.

Recently I was visiting an island beach while out boating and as I walked the shore I saw these two beauties only a few feet apart.  The tide was low and still going out and there they were.

Yes, they are worn and in less than perfect shape, but finding them made me so happy!  (Also see them next to the tape measure in my first photo on this page.)  That photo was taken after I cleaned them.  (See my post on how to clean seashells.)

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Shallow Water Find – Olives and a Crown Conch

These shells don’t appeal to hermit crabs because of their shape – not enough space for the crab.  Because of this, it is one of the few gastropods I can collect without worrying about having a crab tucked down inside.  Those pesky critters can duck inside a shell and hide really well.

Shark’s Eye and Olive Shell found August 2022 – put the Shark’s eye back as it had a hermit crab inside.

The shape of the olive shell most resembles that of a cone shell, but cones are shaped more like their namesake.  The olive is nearly the same width from top to bottom.  The best place to collect a cone shell is on the southwest side of Florida, on and near Sanibel Island, which is where I found the pretty Olive Shells in my photo below.

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Olive Shells from Sanibel Island

Recent Blog Posts

The Beautiful Florida Fighting Conch

A post, with pictures, about the Florida Fighting Conch seashell.

shallow ocean water shoreline

One of my favorite shells to see up close is the Fighting Conch, or the Florida Fighting Conch (Strombus alatus) as it’s known.  It is in the family Strombidae.

The Fighting Conch can be found on all Florida shorelines, but they prefer sandy, shallow water where wave action is minimal.   That’s exactly the type of place I discovered this one.

Before I came across this living mollusk, I had collected an empty fighting conch shell while visiting Sanibel Island.    On the Gulf coast, this shell is more common than where I am on the East coast.

So what is a conch shell? (Pronounced “konk”) By definition it is a large, spiral-shaped seashell.  It is big, but thicker and heavier than other gastropods, like the whelks.   The conch is the living creature inside which is sometimes harvested to eat.  Conch is on the menu in many tropical based restaurants, and the meat can be from any large gastropod shell.

I’ve also come across a broken and worn Fighting Conch shell with a hermit crab inside. This happened while exploring another similar type of island.

broken fighting conch
Broken Fighting Conch Shell with Hermit Crab Inside

Recently, I was lucky enough to come across this living Fighting Conch while walking the beach of an island in the Indian River.  I didn’t think to measure it, but I’d estimate it’s length to be around 4 inches, and they don’t get much bigger, according to my seashell reference book.

Fighting conch shell with mollusk inside
The Beautiful Fighting Conch – this one is alive.

The chunky, wide-bodied shell, with a more compact spire, is a giveaway as to the name of this one.   It is known to “fight” or jump at other shells that could be a danger to it, hence the “fighting” name.

Look at the beautiful colors on the shell!  From the dark purple with orange edges underneath at the aperture, to the light purple on top (it’s spire), even though this one has some green algae and a few barnacles, it was a lovely sight to behold.  I couldn’t help but wonder how beautiful it would have been all cleaned up.

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Living Florida Fighting Conch – view of the mollusk inside

I saw this shell up on the sand at an island out on the Indian River. I picked it up hoping it was empty so I could take it home, but found a living conch inside.   A fun surprise (at least it wasn’t a hermit crab!)

I took it to the boat to show my son – how often do you find something so awesome?  I got my iPhone to take these pictures, and then left it in the shallow water which is it’s home.

fighting conch seashell

My video of this living conch shell.  Somehow it ended up in Slow-motion (I am not tech savvy), which shows the sea water slowly coming in around the shell.

If you are ever tempted to try “conch” when out to eat at a Florida restaurant, this is the type of thing you are eating. The living shells are collected and the animal is pulled out and cooked.

I offer a free, downloadable coloring page of the Florida Fighting Conch.

I’ve found other living mollusks while out boating.  This big horse conch was pretty cool, and even a little pear whelk with the mollusk inside.

The Pink conch (or Queen conch) is a threatened species due to over-harvesting. For this same reason I no longer buy seashells from gift shops or shell shops. When I am walking the beach, or visiting these islands out on the river, I always only collect empty seashells.