Biodiversity & Conservation

Red whelk - Neptunea antiqua

Neptunea antiqua

Image David Connor - Neptunea antiqua. Image width ca 18 cm.
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Distribution map

Neptunea antiqua recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Neptunea antiqua 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 Neptunea contraria auctorum non Linnaeus, 1771.
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Locally common off the coasts of north Britain.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Occurs sublittorally from 15-1200 m, mainly on soft substrata. Empty shells are often found on the shore.
Text page icon Description A tall spired whelk, with 7 or 8 whorls, that normally grows to 10 cm long and 5 cm in width. The body whorl comprises about ¾ of the total height and the whorls are slightly convex, giving a stepped effect and ornamented with fine ridges following the spirals. The aperture is large and oval and where the lips meet at the shell base there is a canal for the siphon to emerge when the whelk is active.
Identifying features
  • Large spired shell, with 7/8 whorls that are stepped.
  • Normally up to 10 cm long, 5 cm in width, occasionally larger.
  • Bottom whorl comprises about ¾ of the shell height.
  • Fine concentric ridges on whorls.
  • Whitish in colour, sometimes reddish, usually more heavily pigmented around the aperture.
  • Aperture lips meet at a siphonal canal.
Additional information icon Additional information Neptunea antiqua closely resembles Buccinum undatum, the common whelk. They can be separated by the fact that Buccinum undatum has vertical as well as concentric ridges on the whorls. The common whelk is edible but the red whelk is not (Hayward et al, 1996). The distribution and abundance of Neptunea antiqua may be reduced in Britain as a result of seawater warming.

This review can be cited as follows:

Penny Avant 2003. Neptunea antiqua. Red whelk. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 20/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3900>