''Sinistrofulgur perversum'', the lightning whelk, is an edible

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of very large predatory

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the a ...

whelk Whelk (also known as scungilli) is a common name applied to various kinds of sea snail. Although a number of whelks are relatively large and are in the family Buccinidae (the true whelks), the word ''whelk'' is also applied to some other marin ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is est ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Busyconidae The Busyconidae are taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Busyconidae Wade, 1917 (1867). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia. ...

, the busycon whelks. This species has a left-handed or sinistral shell. It eats mostly

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of marine and freshwater Mollusca, molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hing ...

s. There has been some disagreement about the correct scientific name for this species, which has been confused with ''

Sinistrofulgur sinistrum ''Sinistrofulgur sinistrum'' is an edible species of large predatory sea snail in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. This species is often confused with ''Sinistrofulgur perversum'', and with '' Busycon contrarium'', which is now consid ...

'' Hollister, 1958, and ''

Busycon contrarium ''Sinistrofulgur contrarium'' is a fossil snail species of the busycon whelks in the family Busyconidae. There has been some confusion about the correct taxonomy of this species, which has been confused with the extant species ''Sinistrofulgur si ...

'' (Conrad, 1840), which is an exclusively fossil species.J. Wise, M. G. Harasewych, R. T. Dillon Jr. (2004).
Population divergence in the sinistral whelks of North America, with special reference to the east Florida ecotone
(PDF; 673 kB)''. Marine Biology 145, pp. 1167–1179.

Distribution

This marine species is native to the Mid-Atlantic region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and southeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

south to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

and the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

states.

Habitat

Lightning whelks can be found in the sandy or muddy substrate of shallow embayments.

Life habits

This whelk species feeds primarily on marine

s, ingesting their soft parts using its

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

''Sinistrofulgur perversum'' and ''Busycon carica''

This species shares many characteristics with another species, the knobbed whelk ''

Busycon carica The knobbed whelk (''Busycon carica'') is a species of very large predatory sea snail, or in the US, a whelk, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. The knobbed whelk is the second largest species of busycon ...

'', but there are some important differences: *Lightning whelks are sinistral in coiling, whereas knobbed whelks are

dextral Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality (" handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use differe ...

*Lightning whelks have a lower

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

than the knobbed whelk *The knobs of the lightning whelk are usually less well-developed than those of the knobbed whelk *Lightning whelks are diurnal, while knobbed whelks are active both day and night *Lightning whelks prefer to stay in deeper waters than the knobbed whelks when feeding on mud flats

Human use

For thousands of years Native Americans used these animals as food, and used their shells for tools, ornaments, containers and to make jewelry, i.e.

shell gorget Shell gorgets are a Native American art form of polished, carved shell pendants worn around the neck. The gorgets are frequently engraved, and are sometimes highlighted with pigments, or fenestrated (pierced with openings). Shell gorgets were mo ...

s. They may have believed the sinistral nature of the lightning whelk shell made it a sacred object. The Minnesota Woman (lived c. 6000 BCE in modern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

) wore a ''Sinistrofulgur perversum'' shell. The lightning whelk is the " State Seashell of Texas".

Gallery

File:Core Banks - Whelk - 1.JPG, Live lightning whelk in North Carolina File:Welk2.jpg, Abapertural view of a shell File:Busycon sinistrum (egg case).jpg, Egg cases File:Busycon contrarium egg capsules - Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History - DSC06673.JPG, Egg cases in a museum

References

* Marquardt, W.M. 1992 Shell Artifacts from the Caloosahatchee Area. In ''Culture and Environment in the Domain of the Calusa'', edited by W. H. Marquardt, pp. 191–228. Institute of Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies, Monograph 1. University of Florida, Gainesville. * Paine, Robert T. 1962 Ecological Diversification in Sympatric Gastropods of the Genus Busycon. ''Evolution'' 16(4):515-523. * Pulley, T.E. 1959 ''Busycon perversum'' (Linné) and some related species. ''Rice Institute Pamphlet'', 46:70-89. * Wise, J.B., G. Harasewych, & R. Dillon. 2004. Population divergence in the sinistral ''Busycon'' whelks of North America, with special reference to the east Florida ecotone. ''Marine Biology'', 145:1163-1179; SMSFP Contrib.538.

External links

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Snails of the Sea

Texas Parks and Wildlife, lightning whelks
{{Taxonbar, from=Q30918058, from2=Q55147211, from3=Q12902713, from4=Q106103085 perversum Commercial molluscs Seafood in Native American cuisine Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Symbols of Texas