MOLLUSKS 141 
The well-known “sand-collars” are the egg capsules of this 
snail. When first pressed out from the side of the animal the collar 

Fig. roo; Northern Sand-collar Snail crawling over a sandy bottom between two of its egg 
So 
cocoons. From life. Cape Ann, Massachusetts. 
is composed of a glutinous material in which the eggs are imbedded 
in great numbers arranged in regular rows. Sand immediately 
adheres to the collar, and it soon hardens. These collars are com- 
mon throughout the summer. ‘The young snails often have two or 
three rows of dull purple spots running spirally down the shell; 
but these disappear in the adults. 
The Giant Whelks, (Fulgur earica, and Sycotypus canaliculatus, 
Fig. 101). Our whelks are the largest coiled shells to be found 
north of Cape Hatteras. They extend from the Gulf of Mexico to 
Cape Cod, and are especially abundant off the New Jersey coast 
and in Long Island Sound upon gravelly or sandy bottoms at, or 
below, low-tide level, where they plough along with the foot partially 
buried beneath the surface of the ground. The shells of our 
whelks grow to be fully six inches long, and are pear-shaped, with a 
long, tapering snout, or anterior canal. The Knobbed Whelk, (/ul- 
gur carica), may at once be recognized by the circlet of knob-like 
protuberances around the shoulder of the body-whorl of the shell. 
