Busycon
| Busycon whelks | |
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| A fossil shell of Busycon contrarium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Buccinoidea |
| Family: | Busyconidae |
| Genus: |
Busycon Röding, 1798 |
| Type species | |
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Busycon muricatum Röding, 1798 |
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| Species | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Fulgur Montfort, 1810 |
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See text
Fulgur Montfort, 1810
Busycon is a genus of very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Busyconidae. These snails are commonly known in the United States as whelks or Busycon whelks. Less commonly they are loosely, and somewhat misleadingly, called "conchs".
Busycon comes from the Greek bousykon meaning large fig, from bous meaning cow and sykon meaning fig.
Shells of species in this genus can grow to a length of 40 cm. They all have a long siphonal canal.
The shells are generally a solid cream, light grey or tan in color, however the shell of Busycon perversum is marked with brown and white streaks.
The shell of individuals can sometimes vary quite widely in coloration and sculpture.
The lightning whelk, native to the Gulf of Mexico, is unusual among gastropods, having a sinistral shell.
Busycon whelks are scavengers and carnivores, equipped with a proboscis tipped with a file-like radula used to bore holes through the shells of barnacles, clams, crabs, and lobsters. They have a large, muscular foot with which they hold their victims. Small sharks, gulls, crabs, and other gastropods are known to feed upon them.
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Wikipedia