The Whelks. Trumpet Shells 



The Red Whelk (N. aniiqua, Linn.) is used for codfish bait, 

 and is a favourite molluscan food among the poor of Great Britain. 

 The Hver is the tidbit, described as "more fat and tender than 

 lobster." The DubUn marketmen call this whelk "barnagh." 

 At Billingsgate market in London it is the " almond " and " buckie." 

 Antiqua, the specific name, is chosen because this species is plentiful 

 as a fossil in the Crag. Left-handed forms occur, fossil and living. 



This mollusk is large, the average shell three or four inches 

 long and two inches wide. Extreme specimens are eight inches 

 long. The shell is solid, dull-lustred, yellowish or reddish, with 

 faint spiral ridges. The Shetland Islanders convert them into 

 "elegant lamps," hanging them in a horizontal position with the 

 lighted end of the wick protruding from the canal. The eggs are 

 laid in pouch-like capsules, attached to each other in close, over- 

 lapping clusters. The spawning time is late winter. 



Habitat. — Northern Europe. 



The Ten-ridged Neptunea (N. decemcostaia, Say) is the 

 large and striking whelk of the Maine coast, with ten winding 

 keels of graduated sizes decorating its swollen body whorl. On 

 the upper whorls but two keels occur. The mouth is wide 

 open ; the lining is pure white. The shell's exterior is dull 

 and dirty, white or horn-coloured. The body is frequently pure 

 white or flecked with black. The animal has the carnivorous 

 activities of the whelk, Buccinum, with which it occurs, below 

 low water mark. Length, 2 to 4 inches. 



Habitat. — New England and Nova Scotia. 



The Ridged Neptunea (N . lirata, Mart.) is a large Alaskan 

 species, with light brown shell wound with nine to fifteen ribs, 

 three seen on the spire. Sometimes the shell is smooth, by the 

 suppression of these ribs. Length, 3 to 6 inches. 



Habitat. — Northwest coast of North America. 



N. harpa, Morch., four to six inches long, closely ribbed, pale 

 yellow, with oval, salmon-tinted aperture, occurs at Sitka. 



Genus SIPHO, Klein. 



Shell thin, pear-shaped, or spindle-shaped, with smooth, 

 rounded whorls; lips simple; canal and spire produced; opercu- 

 lum ovate, with apical nucleus. Thirty-seven species. 



Habitat. — Circumpolar. 



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