Florida seashells - Seashells by Millhill

The Whelks of Florida

The Whelk shells of Florida are widely collected and they can be some of the largest shells you’ll find on Florida beaches. (Don’t collect them if they are inhabited.)

The Knobbed Whelk (Busycon carica), Channeled Whelk (Busycon canaliculatum), Pear Whelk (Busycon spiratum) and Lightning Whelk (Busycon contrarium) can all be quite large – the Pear is the smallest. Common characteristics include their long shape with a wide opening down the length of the shell.

Of these four, the Pear Whelk is the smallest when full grown. It grows to a length of 5 1/2 inches. I have come across pear whelks out on the sandy flats while boating. I’ve seen them as yellow, gray and with brown splotches. They are usually inhabited by hermit crabs. Then I recently found one with a live snail inside. (2nd photo)

pear whelk seashell — Pear whelk seashell with hermit crab inside

pear whelk mollusk — Pear Whelk with Mollusk Inside

The Lightning Whelk is another one I find often in the backwater areas. It’s usually small like the pear whelk, but this one can grow to be 16 inches long. It is recognizable by it’s left-side opening.

lightning whelk mollusk shell — Live Lightning Whelk (Notice the left-sided opening)

This is a fairly new photo of the knobbed whelk. I discovered it in January just offshore on an island in the Indian River backwater. A hermit crab was living inside, so I got some photos and returned it to the water.

The channeled whelk is not a shell I have found in one piece. It grows to be 7.5 inches in length. The top spiral part of the shell differs from the other whelks because it looks extended, like someone pulled it out. The whorls on the other shells are tight and semi-flat.

large broken whelk shell — White and broken channeled whelk shell remains

This is the only channeled whelk I have found and even though it was very broken it turned out there was a hermit crab living in it! I had to take it back and return it to the water.

The Channeled whelk only lives along the northeastern coast of Florida to about halfway down the state. I guess that explains why I don’t see many of this kind of shell.

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Seashell Identification: About the Florida Crown Conch

The Crown Conch (Melongena corona) seashell, sometimes called a King’s Crown , is one I see often when out on the islands beach-combing. Because of it’s distinctive pointy spikes around the outer swirls of the shell, I can easily recognize it.

crown conch seashell — Crown conch with abundance of spiky points all around

It’s a pretty shell with horizontal brown, reddish or gray, and off-white stripes on the adults. I have not seen a living crown conch. Juvenile shells can be other colors like the purple-blue one below – what a beauty!, and the tan one at the end of this post.

blue crown conch — Blueish-purple juvenile crown conch shell

Usually, when I see them, the colors are partially obscured by slime – as are most of the shells I find. The part of the shell that has been dragging along the sand is most colorful.

crown conch shell — Crown conch underwater – look closely and see the hermit crab carrying it along

This recent find stood out to me because of all those spikes! This is really a lot, compared to the ones I usually find (photos further down the page).

Juvenile crown conchs will not have those big spikes, but will grow them later on. I found a small one (photo below) but it had a hermit crab inside. So it will never grow up. Hermit crabs don’t kill mollusks that make the shells, but they never miss an opportunity to take possession of an empty shell!

hermit crab in juvenile crown conch shell — Juvenile crown conch (I believe) with hermit crab inside

Once the mollusk dies, hermit crabs move in. In the area where I fish and beach-comb the bottom is sometimes mucky, and that carries over to the shells. Often they are not pretty. Slime and even oysters can be growing inside, or barnacles on the outside.

Screen Shot 2017-11-21 at 6.51.17 PM — Home to a hermit crab

The huge shell below was one I collected because it was empty. It is broken and worn and the mollusk was obviously old when he died. He’d had plenty of time to create this oversized shell. Max size of the crown conch is 5 inches, and this one measured 6 inches plus. Because it’s not very pretty, it now has a home in my garden. Empty ones can be cleaned, but I didn’t go nuts with this broken one. The green and black slime fades away once the shell sits in the hot sun.

huge crown conch — Huge, old crown conch shell – 6 inches

As you can see in many of the photos on this page, the spikey shells also have some spikes near the base of the shell.

Screen Shot 2017-11-21 at 6.51.25 PM — Spikes top and bottom

I live in central Florida on the East coast. Over on the Gulf coast lives a lucky lady who gets to see some awesome seashell happenings.
Here’s a video of baby King’s Crown shells hatching.