Malacology
Malacology is the study of mollusks. This includes animals like octopus, snails, slugs, and clams. It is the second largest phylum of animals, making them one of the most successful groups on the planet. There are over 80,000 described species of mollusks with many more left to be discovered. Mullusca is composed of 8 recognized classes including Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Polyplacophora, Scaphapoda, Monoplacophorans, the Aplacophorans, Caudofoveata and Solenogastres, and Bivalvia.
Channeled Whelk
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Busycotypus canaliculatus
Class:
Order:
Family:
Gastropoda
Neogastropoda
Buccinidae
Shell Information
Length (mm): 201
Dextral
Chirality:
It has a large pear-shaped dextral shell. Each coil is smooth with a deep groove along the spiral.
Description:
Ecological Information
Distribution:
Depth (m):
Massachusetts to Florida. They have also been introduced to parts of California.
0 to 40 meters
Diet:
Carnivore; They feed on a variety of bivalves,
Habitat:
Marine; -
Misc. Facts
It is the official state shell of Delaware.
Citations
MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase.Busycotypus canaliculatus(Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160192 on 2021-06-10
Morris, P. A. (1987). A field guide to shells: Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the West Indies (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin.
Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (214). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics. https://doi.org/1.116/j.ecoinf.214.8.5.