Biodiversity & Conservation

Common whelk - Buccinum undatum

Buccinum undatum

Image Steve Trewhella - Buccinum undatum. Image width ca 8 cm.
Image copyright information

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Distribution map

Buccinum undatum recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Buccinum undatum?
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Buccinum undatum is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Gastropoda Snails, slugs & sea butterflies
Authority Linnaeus, 1758
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Common off all British coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Occasionally intertidal but mainly subtidal down to 1200 m. Found on muddy sand, gravel and also rock. Sometimes present in brackish waters.
Text page icon Description A large whelk up to 10 cm high and 6 cm wide. The shell has 7-8 whorls with spiral ridges. The shell is yellowish brown with irregular light and dark spiral areas. The aperture is broadly oval tapering to a point with a short wide siphonal canal leading from the base of aperture.
Identifying features
  • Stout shell up to 10 cm in height.
  • 7-8 whorls last whorl 70% of height.
  • Broadly oval aperture.
Additional information icon Additional information There is a significant fishery, which uses traps, for common whelks. The majority of the whelks are exported to the far east. Masses of lentil shaped eggs are often found attached to subtidal rocks, stones or shells. Empty egg masses, known as 'sea wash balls', are often found on the strandline and are sometimes mistaken for sponges. Buccinum undatum may be confused with the red whelk Neptunea antiqua. Neptunea antiqua does not have the coarse ribbing of Buccinum undatum and is not edible.

This review can be cited as follows:

Olwen Ager 2008. Buccinum undatum. Common whelk. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 23/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2815>