Buccinum
| Buccinum | |
|---|---|
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| A live individual of Buccinum undatum being held above the substrate | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Buccinoidea |
| Family: | Buccinidae |
| Subfamily: | Buccininae |
| Tribe: | Buccinini |
| Genus: |
Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
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Buccinum undatum Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Species | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
See text
Buccinum is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.
Snails in this genus are commonly called whelks, a name shared with several related and unrelated species. The common whelk Buccinum undatum is the most common representative of the genus in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
The shell is ovate or ovate-conical and elongated. The spire is moderate and pointed. The aperture is oval or oblong with a deep notch anteriorly and without a siphonal canal. The columella is plain, not flattened, swollen above, and often covered with a wide and flattened calcareous callosity, of more diaphanous substance. There sometimes exists a fold at the base of the columella. The outer lip is plain, quite thin, sometimes recurved, and forming a margin on the exterior. The thin, horny operculum is ovate and concentrically striate.
The soft body is elongated and spiral. The foot almost always considerable and subelliptical. It is shielded or two-lobed before, emarginated behind, bearing an operculum. The mantle is simple and forms a thin-edged flap over the branchial cavity. It is provided with a branchial siphon, projecting, thick, very long and dorsal, issuing from the emargination at the base of the shell. The head is rather thick, furnished with two conical, depressed tentacles supporting the eyes upon the outer side, (sometimes the eyes do not exist, but this case is extremely rare) . The mouth is provided with a retractile trunk, armed with minute teeth. The radula acts as a rasp. The sexes are separate. The love dart of the male is considerable, without an exterior furrow at its base.
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Wikipedia