 |
|
| shelled snails text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Family Nassariidae |
| Common
whelk Nassarius livescens Family Nassariidae updated Oct 2016 Where seen? This elegantly ribbed whelk is usually busy foraging at low tide among seaweeds or on the sand near seagrasses, especially at night. Commonly seen on many of our shores. 'Livescens' means 'black and blue' in Latin. Features: 2-2.5cm. Shell conical, long and slender with neat, regular fine ridges and narrow white bands alternative with broad bands of brown or dark blue. Shell opening edged with broad smooth white portion, towards the mouth, darker and with small bumps. Body pale with dark speckles, a long foot with a pair of 'tails' at the ends. Operculum thin with tiny 'teeth' along the edges, yellow with a dark blotch in the centre. |
 Changi, May 05 |
 Underside. |
 The operculum has 'teeth' along the edges. |
 Very long foot with a pair of tentacles at the end, operculum with a dark blotch. Changi, May 05 |
||
| Hitching on a whelk: This whelk
often has one or more tiny sea
anemones hitching a ride on its shell. Sometimes also with tiny
barnacles on the shell. Whelk food: Whelks are active scavengers and often seen busily foraging in pools at the change of the tides. A choice morsel such as a dead crab or fish is a magnet for these snails which hurry as fast as they can to the feast. |
 Cleaning out a shell while hermits wait patiently. Changi, Jul 09 |
 Gathered on a dead crab. Changi, Jul 09 |
| Common whelks on Singapore shores |
On wildsingapore
flickr
|
| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
Links
|