Sinistrofulgur perversum | |
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Sinistrofulgur perversum found in France, with the operculum in place | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Neogastropoda |
Family: | Busyconidae |
Genus: | Sinistrofulgur |
Species: | S. perversum |
Binomial name | |
Sinistrofulgur perversum (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Range | |
Synonyms | |
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.
There has been some disagreement about the correct scientific name for this species, which has been confused with Sinistrofulgur sinistrum Hollister, 1958, and Busycon contrarium (Conrad, 1840), which is an exclusively fossil species. [1] [2]
This marine species is native to the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and southeastern North America, from New Jersey south to Florida and the Gulf states.
Lightning whelks can be found in the sandy or muddy substrate of shallow embayments.
This whelk species feeds primarily on marine bivalves, ingesting their soft parts using its proboscis.
This species shares many characteristics with another species, the knobbed whelk Busycon carica , but there are some important differences:[ citation needed ]
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 gorgets. [3] For example, the Indigenous peoples of Florida used their shells as hammers, axes, and cups; Floridan archaeologists have likened them to Swiss Army knives for their versatility. [4] 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) wore a Sinistrofulgur perversum shell. [5]
The lightning whelk is the "State Seashell of Texas". [6]
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.
Triplofusus giganteus, commonly known as the Florida horse conch, or the giant horse conch, is a species of extremely large predatory subtropical and tropical sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Fasciolariidae, the spindle snails, tulip snails and their allies. On average, it weighs over 11 pounds (5.0 kg).
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.
Busycotypus canaliculatus, commonly known as the channeled whelk, is a very large predatory sea snail, a marine prosobranch gastropod, a busycon whelk, belonging to the family Busyconidae.
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".
Dakshinavarti shankha, also referred to as Valampuri shankhu and Sri Lakshmi shankha is a sacred Hindu conch. It refers to the shell of a large sea snail from the Indian Ocean, but one that has a rare reverse-turning spiral.
Sea snails are 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.
Minnesota Woman, also known as Pelican Rapids-Minnesota Woman, is the skeletal remains of a woman thought to be 8,000 years old. The bones were found near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota on June 16, 1931, during construction on U.S. Route 59. The bones were brought to Albert Jenks at the University of Minnesota, who identified them as the bones of a girl who was 15 or 16 years old, but who had never borne children. The girl had two artifacts—a dagger made from an elk's horn and a conch shell pendant. The conch shell came from a whelk species known as Sinistrofulgur perversum, which had previously only been known to exist in Florida.
The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.
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.
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.
Stramonita haemastoma, common name the red-mouthed rock shell or the Florida dog winkle, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
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.
Mulinia lateralis, the dwarf surf clam or coot clam, is a species of small saltwater clam, a bivalve mollusc in the family Mactridae. It occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
The thinstripe hermit crab, Clibanarius vittatus, is a species of hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean.
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 is a genus of large sea snails with left-handed shell-coiling, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Busyconinae.
Sinistrofulgur sinistrum is an edible species of large predatory sea snail in the family Busyconidae, the busycon 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.