A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers. The shells are empty because the animal has died and the soft parts have decomposed or been eaten by another animal.
Whelks are any of several carnivorous sea snail species with a swirling, tapered shell. Many are eaten by humans, such as the common whelk of the North Atlantic. Most whelks belong to the family Buccinidae and are known as "true whelks." Others, such as the dog whelk, belong to several sea snail families that are not closely related.
The knobbed whelk 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.
Busycon is a genus of very large edible sea snails in the subfamily Busyconinae. These snails are commonly known in the United States as whelks or Busycon whelks. Less commonly they are loosely, and somewhat misleadingly, called "conchs".
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 absence of a visible shell.
Sinistrofulgur perversum, the lightning whelk, is a species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. This species has a left-handed or sinistral shell. It eats mostly bivalves.
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 sinistrum Hollister, 1958, and Sinistrofulgur perversum
Busycotypus is a genus of very large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Busycotypinae.
A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small dimensions.
Boonea is a small genus of small sea snails, pyramidellid gastropod mollusks.
Turbinella pyrum, common names the chank shell, sacred chank or chank, also known as the divine conch or referred to simply as a conch, is a species of very large sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinellidae. This species occurs in the Indian Ocean.
Fasciolariidae is a family of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Buccinoidea. Species in Fasciolariidae are commonly known as tulip snails and spindle snails.
Fulguropsis is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Busyconidae, the crown conches and their allies.
Lutraria is a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve mollusks or clams, commonly known as otter shells.
The Festivus is a publication about malacology and conchology published by the San Diego Shell Club in San Diego, California. The Festivus started in 1970 as a shell club newsletter edited by Blanche Brewer. In 1976 Carole Hertz became the editor, and gradually The Festivus became more scientifically respectable, and was transformed into a peer-reviewed scientific journal. From 1985 up until 2014, issues of The Festivus contained scientific papers on mollusks, and each paper was peer-reviewed by a professional malacologist. Eleven issues were published annually: one issue per month, except for the month of December. Carole Hertz was editor for 37 years.
The Busyconinae are taxonomic subfamily of large sea snails, often known as whelks. The name "whelk" also refers to Buccinidae. Busyconinae consists of Recent and fossil species.
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 considered an exclusively fossil species.
The Busyconidae are taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks.
Fulguropsis spirata, commonly known as pear whelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. The species is also occasionally referred to as the Gulf pear whelk to differentiate it from other Fulguropsis species which are also referred to as pear whelks. It is an edible mollusc found in areas from the Caribbean to the Western Gulf of Mexico. The species was previously thought to range through the entire Gulf of Mexico down the Florida Peninsula and as far north as North Carolina in the Atlantic. The species is generally not found East of the Mississippi Delta, and any Fulguropsis found Eastward from said delta are most likely of the species Fulguropsis pyruloides. As a result many records of F. pyruloides from the aforementioned regions are falsely labelled as F. spirata.
Fulguropsis pyruloides is a species of Marine Gastropod, commonly known as the pear whelk. It is also known as the Florida pear whelk or Atlantic pear whelk in scientific and shelling circles to differentiate from the more well known Fulguropsis spirata, which is also known as the Pear Whelk. It was first described by American conchologist, Thomas Say, in 1822.
