Dog whelks
Whelk
Whelk is a common name that is applied to various kinds of sea snail. Although a number of whelks are relatively large and are in the family Buccinidae, the word whelk is also applied to some other marine gastropod species within several families of sea snails that are not very closely rel…
How does a dog whelk eat its prey?
The Dog whelk feeds on mussels and barnacles by boring through their shells. It then injects enzymes to digest the prey within its shell, sucking the resulting 'liquid soup' out through its proboscis. It can take days to eat its prey this way.
What is a dog whelk?
"Dog whelk" can also refer to the Nassariidae . This species is found around the coasts of Europe and in the northern west Atlantic coast of North America. It also can be found in estuarine waters along the Atlantic coasts.
Where do dog whelks live?
"Dog whelk" can also refer to the Nassariidae . This species is found around the coasts of Europe and in the northern west Atlantic coast of North America. It also can be found in estuarine waters along the Atlantic coasts. This species prefers rocky shores, where it eats mussels and acorn barnacles.
Is a dog whelk an active predator?
It is an active predator, feasting on mussels and barnacles before retreating to crevices to rest. With a pointed snail-like shell, dog whelks are found on the lower shore wherever there are barnacles or mussels - their favourite food.
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Do dog whelks eat limpets?
Dog whelks are carnivorous (meat eating) sea snails. They drill holes in the shells of other creatures such as limpets and barnacles and turn the creature into soup before using their tongue to suck it all up.
Is the dog whelk a herbivore or a carnivore?
Dog whelks are a species of carnivorous gastropod (sea snail) that live on the rocky sea shore around Ireland's coasts.
What does a whelk eat?
This animal feeds on clams, oysters, mussels and other bivalves. To feed, the snail uses its foot to hold prey while the lip of its shell chips and pries at the bivalve. Once a big enough hole has opened, the snail inserts its foot and begins to feed.
How do dog whelks survive?
Its adaptations include a modified radula (a toothed chitinous structure) to bore holes in the shells of prey, complemented by an organ on the foot which secretes a shell-softening chemical.
Are dog whelks herbivores?
The dog whelk, dogwhelk, or Atlantic dogwinkle is a species of predatory sea snail, a carnivorous marine gastropod in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
Are whelks predators?
Whelks are considered the most important predators of A. stutchburyi (Larcombe 1971), the most abundant of which are Buccinid whelks of the genus Cominella.
Can you eat dog whelks?
Dog whelks are cooked the same way as periwinkles and have a liver-like flavour.
Is a whelk a snail?
whelk, any marine snail of the family Buccinidae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), or a snail having a similar shell. Some are incorrectly called conchs. The sturdy shell of most buccinids is elongated and has a wide aperture in the first whorl.
Can whelks live in freshwater?
But have you ever heard of whelks from rivers and lakes? For the aquarium enthusiasts, this may have struck a chord in them. Freshwater whelks (a.k.a. assassin snails) are well-known for their ability to "massacre" almost the entire population of aquarium snails in just a matter of hours!
Do whelks eat crabs?
Whelks are carnivores, and eat crustaceans, mollusks, and worms—they will even eat other whelks.
How do whelks lay eggs?
All whelks lay their eggs in a long, spiral-shaped casing that can reach up to 33 inches in length. The strand contains up to 200 small pouches, and each pouch contains up to 99 eggs. The female protects the string of eggs by anchoring one end at the bottom of the bay or ocean.
Do whelks eat barnacles?
Their method of attack varies depending on their prey. In the case of barnacles, they push the plates of the shell slightly apart and inject a toxic compound, purpurin, into the shell. This causes the muscles of the barnacle to relax and the whelk opens the shell and eats the barnacle.
What is a dog whelk?
Dog whelk. Scientific name: Nucella lapillus . This sea snail is abundant on rocky shores around the UK. It is an active predator, feasting on mussels and barnacles before retreating to crevices to rest.
What is the difference between a dog and a whelk?
They predominantly have white shells in the UK, but may be brown or yellow. The dog whelk is smaller than the common whelk, smoother than the netted whelk and more rounded than the oyster drill. The animal itself is white or cream coloured but rarely seen.
How long do dog whelks stay in a crevice?
Once fed, dog whelks will rest in a crevice for a number of days before feeding again. Dog whelks avoid dense mussel beds as the mussels can trap the whelk using their sticky byssus threads. Nearly 30% of dog whelks trapped in this way die from slow starvation. Dog whelks lay their eggs in small yellowish capsules which can be spotted ...
Where do dog whelk lay their eggs?
Dog whelks lay their eggs in small yellowish capsules which can be spotted under rocky overhangs on the lower shore. Each capsule contains up to a thousand eggs - though most of these will become food for the few that hatch and develop.
What is a dog whelk?
The dog whelk, dogwhelk, or Atlantic dogwinkle ( scientific name Nucella lapillus) is a species of predatory sea snail, a carnivorous marine gastropod in the family Muricidae, the rock snails. Nucella lapillus was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Buccinum ...
Where are dog whelk found?
The upper limit of the range in which the dog whelk is generally found is approximately coincidental with the mean high water neap tide line, and the lower limit of the range is approximately coincidental with the mean low water neap tide line, so that the vast majority of dog whelks are found on the mid- tidal zone.
Why are dog whelk inactive?
If waves are large or there is an excessive risk of water loss the dog whelk will remain inactive in sheltered locations for long periods. Mussels have developed a defensive strategy of tethering and immobilising with byssus threads any dog whelks invading their beds, leading to the whelks' starvation.
How do waves affect dog whelk?
Wave action tends to confine the dog whelk to more sheltered shores, however, this can be counteracted, both by adaptations to tolerate it such as the shell and muscular foot, and by the avoidance of direct exposure to wave action afforded by making use of sheltered microhabitats in rocky crevices. The preferred substrate material of the dog whelk is solid rock and not sand, which adds to its problems at lower levels on the shore where weathering is likely to have reduced the stability of the seabed. Water loss by evaporation has to be tolerated (by means of the operculum which holds water in and prevents its escape as vapour ), or avoided (by moving into water or a shaded area).
Why are dog whelk threatened?
In general it can be said that at high vertical heights on the shoreline the dog whelk is most threatened by biotic factors such as predation from birds and interspecific competition for food, but abiotic factors are the primary concern, creating a harsh environment in which it is difficult to survive.
Where was the whelk dyeing workshop?
In Ireland, on the island of Inishkea North, Co. Mayo, archaeologists found a whelk-dyeing workshop, dated to the 7th century AD, complete with a small, presumed vat, and a pile of broken-open dog-whelk shells. Unfortunately, no such workshop is known from Britain for the Early Medieval period.
What are the adaptations of the radula?
Its adaptations include a modified radula (a toothed chitinous structure) to bore holes in the shells of prey, complemented by an organ on the foot which secretes a shell-softening chemical . When a hole has been formed paralysing chemicals and digestive enzymes are secreted inside the shell to break the soft body down into a 'soup' which can be sucked out with the proboscis. The plates of barnacles can be pushed apart with the proboscis, and the entire individual is eaten in about a day, although larger animals such as mussels may take up to a week to digest .
Overview
The dog whelk, dogwhelk, or Atlantic dogwinkle (Nucella lapillus) is a species of predatory sea snail, a carnivorous marine gastropod in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
Nucella lapillus was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Buccinum lapillus (the basionym).
Distribution
This species is found around the coasts of Europe and in the northern west Atlantic coast of North America. It also can be found in estuarine waters along the Atlantic coasts. This species prefers rocky shores, where it eats mussels and acorn barnacles.
Shell description
The dog whelk shell is small and rounded with a pointed spire and a short, straight siphonal canal (a groove on the underside of the shell) and a deep anal canal. The overall shell shape varies quite widely according to the degree of exposure to wave action of the shore on which a particular population lives but the body whorl (the largest section of the shell where the majority of the viscer…
Ecology
The dog whelk lives on rocky shores, and in estuarine conditions. Climatically it lives between the 0 °C and 20 °C isotherms.
Wave action tends to confine the dog whelk to more sheltered shores, however, this can be counteracted, both by adaptations to tolerate it such as the shell and muscular foot, and by the avoidance of direct exposure to wave action afforded by making use of sheltered microhabitats i…
Human use
The dog-whelk can be used to produce red-purple and violet dyes, like its Mediterranean relations the spiny dye-murex Bolinus brandaris, the banded dye-murex Hexaplex trunculus and the rock-shell Stramonita haemastoma which provided the red-purple and violet colours that the Ancient World valued so highly. Bede mentions that in Britain "whelks are abundant, and a beautiful scarlet dye is extracted from them which remains unfaded by sunshine or rain; indeed, the older the clot…
External links
• "Nucella lapillus lapillus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 27 January 2011.