Mollusca · mollusks

Channeled whelk

Busycotypus canaliculatus

Busyconidae · busycon whelksIUCN: Not evaluated
Channeled whelk
Photo: Skye McDavid · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A large Atlantic whelk with a deep groove around its spiral. It is fished as 'conch' in the Mid-Atlantic.

Fun factIt opens clams by wedging its shell lip between their valves.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
Diet
Clams & other bivalves
Size
Shell up to 20 cm

Classification

Mollusca › Gastropoda › Neogastropoda › Busyconidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Protostomia protostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening usually becomes the mouth
    • Main nerve cord runs along the belly (ventral)
    • Includes mollusks, worms, and arthropods
  4. Clade Spiralia mollusks, worms & kin
    • Embryos usually divide in a spiral pattern (spiral cleavage)
    • Many have a swimming larva with a band of cilia (trochophore)
    • Includes mollusks and segmented worms
  5. Phylum Mollusca mollusks
    • Soft body with a muscular foot and a fold of tissue (mantle) that makes the shell
    • Most have a rasping, tongue-like ribbon of teeth (radula)
    • Includes snails, clams, octopuses, and chitons
  6. Class Gastropoda snails & slugs
    • Snails and slugs, most with a single, often coiled shell
    • Body twists 180 degrees during development (torsion)
    • Crawl on a broad muscular foot
  7. Subclass Caenogastropoda whelks, periwinkles & kin
    • Most have a single gill and a shell door (operculum)
    • Many have a siphon to sample water
    • Includes periwinkles, whelks, and conchs
  8. Order Neogastropoda whelks & cone snails
    • Mostly predators and scavengers
    • Long siphon in a groove (siphonal canal) at the shell opening
  9. Family Busyconidae busycon whelks
    • Large whelks of the western Atlantic
    • Pear-shaped shells with a long siphonal canal
  10. Genus Busycotypus
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  11. Species Busycotypus canaliculatus Channeled whelk

Closest relatives in the guide