Photo 1587985, (c) Fabio Moretzsohn, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Fabio Moretzsohn

Attribution © Fabio Moretzsohn
some rights reserved
Uploaded by fmoretzsohn fmoretzsohn
Source iNaturalist
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Lightning Whelk (Sinistrofulgur sinistrum)

Observer

fmoretzsohn

Date

January 1, 2011

Description

I enjoyed a visit to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel Island, Florida.

It has extensive exhibits of shells from all over the world, which are not only beautiful but also educational. Besides the public displays, the museum has a world-class research collection of mollusks. Learn more about the museum's exhibits here:
http://shellmuseum.org/exhibits.cfm

Among the many exhibits is one with about the growth and development of the Lightning Whelk, Busycon sinistrum (see photo). This species has a left-handed shell (most gastropods are right-handed).

The species is closely related to the Lightning whelk that occurs in Texas, Busycon pulleyi. The two have been considered as either subspecies, synonyms, or separate species. The Biodiversity of the Gulf of Mexico (BioGoMx) database accepts both as separate species. See more at:
http://gulfbase.org/biogomx/biospecies.php?species=Spp-33-0949

Sizes