lighting whelk

New Photos, Mom and Baby Lightning Whelk Shells

two seashells with openings showing — Gastropods – Dextral and Sinistral

Not too long ago I was going through my seashell collection and came across this little shell again. The one pictured on the right in this picture to the left.

I never knew what it was and then suddenly it hit me – a juvenile lightning whelk! I knew because I finally looked long enough to realize that the opening is on the left side – it’s a sinistral shell! Then I looked at the lines and little bumps forming at the top and when compared to a more mature lightning whelk it’s easy to see that this one is just a baby – called a juvenile lightning whelk. So I have a mom and baby – but I highly doubt they are really related!! It’s just kinda cute.

Photo below shows the two together. Sorry but I have to add my blog name because some unscrupulous people like to help themselves to my photos. So all my pictures are uploaded at a very low resolution and they are only good to use like this – for a blog. Please do not use photos that do not belong to you! Add Zemanta to your blog – it’s a great photo archive.

I still don’t know what the other shell is in the photo above. Anyone? I think it’s a rock snail.

juvenile and adult lightning whelk seashells — Baby and adult lightning Whelk shells

The Lightning Whelk Has a Unique Feature (seashellsbymillhill.com)
Fast and Free Kid Fun – Print Out Seashell Coloring Pages (sandpiperwedding.wordpress.com)
Mom, Look What I Found! Get the Bucket (seashellsbymillhill.com)
Identifying Your Seashells, Where to Start? (seashellsbymillhill.com)

The Lighting Whelk Has a Unique Feature

Big Lightning Whelk (Photo credit: dixiehwy)

The lightning whelk seashell (Busycon sinistrum) lives anywhere along the coastline of Florida. When I visited Sanibel Island there were many living whelks just offshore. I live on the East coast of Florida and have also found many lightning whelks – small ones – with hermit crabs inside.

Don’t collect shells which are inhabited by any living creature, whether it is the mollusk (as in my photo here) or a crab. Take a photo and put it back where it was found.

The lightning whelk can reach a length of around sixteen inches. It has a long opening, or aperture, down the entire side. Seashells that have a similar appearance are the knobbed whelk, channeled whelk, and pear whelk, but the lightning whelk has a unique characteristic. It is sinistral, or left-handed.

The aperture is on the left side and this differentiates it from other similar gastropods. It is very easy to see when holding the shell from the pointed bottom.

In my photo below I compare a juvenile lightning whelk to another seashell. That little shell was a mystery to me until I realized it had a left side opening… then suddenly it dawned on me – lightning whelk!

See my own pictures of this seashell at the Lighting Whelk page.

Lighting Whelk: The Left-Handed Seashell

two seashells — Aperture comparisons of the crown conch (L) and lightning whelk (R)

On a trip to Sanibel Island, on the Gulf coast of Florida, in 1991, we were able to find many lightning whelk shells. Most of them were inhabited by the mollusk and were easy to spot moving about on the sandy ocean bottom. I had no idea what I was collecting when I picked up the 4 inch long shell, but I knew it was a beauty and I felt lucky to have found it. I lived closer to the east coast of Florida where I’d never seen a shell so lovely. It was long and had beautiful streaks of brown running the length of it and the spiral on top was gorgeous.

I added it to my seashell collection and didn’t think too much about it.

I now know that it is a Florida Lightning Whelk and that it is known as being sinistral, or left-handed. When holding the shell at the pointed end, or bottom, you can see that the opening, or aperture, is on the left side. My photo to the right, shows my lightning whelk next to a crown conch to show what I mean. My reference book, the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide to Shells says that this shell can be up to 16 inches long.

It’s not difficult to find information and pictures on-line of this popular shell and if you are looking for more just google the name. If you get to visit any of the warm water beaches between North Carolina and Texas, you just might find a living lightning whelk.

Lightning whelks (Busycon contrarium) eat mostly bi-valves (shells with 2 halves) and especially love clams which they pry open using their strong “foot”.

A lady at Flickr has an interesting photo (below) of a lightning whelk egg case. If all of these babies had hatched, that would be a lot of new lightning whelks.

Please click this link to read what “biggertree” has to say about her photo below.