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Whelk

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Several different species of large whelks in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks, on sale at a fish market in Japan.
Several different species of large whelks in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks, on sale at a fish market in Japan.
A wild whelk at Miller's Point near Cape Town.
A wild whelk at Miller's Point near Cape Town.

Whelks are any of several carnivorous sea snail species[1] with a swirling, tapered shell. Many are eaten by humans, such as the common whelk of the North Atlantic. Most whelks belong to the family Buccinidae and are known as "true whelks." Others, such as the dog whelk, belong to several sea snail families that are not closely related.

True whelks (family Buccinidae) are carnivorous, and feed on annelids, crustaceans, mussels and other molluscs, drilling holes through shells to gain access to the soft tissues. Whelks use chemoreceptors to locate their prey.[2]

Many have historically been used, or are still used, by humans and other animals as food. In a 100-gram (3+12-ounce) reference serving of whelk, there are 570 kilojoules (137 kilocalories) of food energy, 24 g of protein, 0.34 g of fat, and 8 g of carbohydrates.[3]

Dog whelk, a predatory species, was used in antiquity to make a rich red dye that improves in color as it ages.[4]


Usage

The common name "whelk" is also spelled welk or even wilk.

The species, genera and families referred to by this common name vary a great deal from one geographic area to another.

United States

In the United States, whelk refers to several large edible species in the genera Busycon and Busycotypus, which are now classified in the family Buccinidae. These are sometimes called Busycon whelks.

In addition, the unrelated invasive murex Rapana venosa is referred to as the Veined rapa whelk or Asian rapa whelk in the family Muricidae.

Brazil

In Brazil, there is a very popular Afro-Brazilian divination game practiced by older women of African ancestry called jogo de búzios (game of whelks), which uses empty shells of these gastropods.

British Isles, Belgium, Netherlands

In the British Isles, Belgium and the Netherlands (wulk/wullok), the word is used for a number of species in the family Buccinidae, especially Buccinum undatum, an edible European and Northern Atlantic species.

In the British Isles, the common name "dog whelk" is used for Nucella lapillus (family Muricidae) and for Nassarius species (family Nassariidae). Historically, they were a popular street food in Victorian London, typically located close to public houses and theatres.[5]

Scotland

In Scotland, the word "whelk" is also used to mean the periwinkle (Littorina littorea), family Littorinidae.[6]

West Indies

In the English-speaking islands of the West Indies, the word whelks or wilks (this word is both singular and plural) is applied to a large edible top shell, Cittarium pica, also known as the magpie or West Indian top shell, family Trochidae.

Asia

Skewered whelks from Japan.
Skewered whelks from Japan.

In Japan, whelks (ツブ, 螺, tsubu) are frequently used in sashimi and sushi. In Vietnam, they are served in a dish called Bún ốc - vermicelli with sea snails. Golbaengi-muchim (골뱅이 무침) is a Korean dish consisting of whelks and with chili sauce in a salad with cold noodles. It has been a very popular side dish with alcohol for many generations.

Australia, New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, species of the genus Cabestana (family Ranellidae) are called predatory whelks, and species of Penion (family Buccinidae) are called siphon whelks.

Discover more about Usage related topics

Common name

Common name

In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism, which is Latinized. A common name is sometimes frequently used, but that is not always the case.

Busycon

Busycon

Busycon is a genus of very large edible sea snails in the subfamily Busyconinae. These snails are commonly known in the United States as whelks or Busycon whelks. Less commonly they are loosely, and somewhat misleadingly, called "conchs".

Busycotypus

Busycotypus

Busycotypus is a genus of very large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Busycotypinae.

Buccinidae

Buccinidae

The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.

Invasive species

Invasive species

An invasive or alien species is an introduced species to an environment that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food web – for example the purple sea urchin which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter. Since the 20th century, invasive species have become a serious economic, social, and environmental threat.

Murex

Murex

Murex is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".

Brazil

Brazil

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America and in Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3,300,000 sq mi) and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language. It is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world, and the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.

Afro-Brazilians

Afro-Brazilians

Afro-Brazilians are Brazilians who have predominantly sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or pardos, may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Depending on the circumstances, the ones whose African features are more evident are always or frequently seen by others as "africans" - consequently identifying themselves as such, while the ones for whom this evidence is lesser may not be seen as such as regularly. It is important to note that the term pardo, such as preto, is rarely used outside the census spectrum. Brazilian society has a range of words, including negro itself, to describe multiracial people.

British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km2 (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands, off the north coast of France, are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though they do not form part of the archipelago.

Belgium

Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

Buccinum undatum

Buccinum undatum

Buccinum undatum, the common whelk or the waved buccinum, is a large, edible marine gastropod in the family Buccinidae, the "true whelks".

Europe

Europe

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

Some common examples

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Busycotypus canaliculatus

Busycotypus canaliculatus

Busycotypus canaliculatus, commonly known as the channeled whelk, is a very large predatory sea snail, a marine prosobranch gastropod, a busycon whelk, belonging to the family Busyconidae.

Buccinum undatum

Buccinum undatum

Buccinum undatum, the common whelk or the waved buccinum, is a large, edible marine gastropod in the family Buccinidae, the "true whelks".

Knobbed whelk

Knobbed whelk

The knobbed whelk is a species of very large predatory sea snail, or in the US, a whelk, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks.

List of U.S. state shells

List of U.S. state shells

This is a list of official state shells for those states of the United States that have chosen to select one as part of their state insignia. In 1965, North Carolina was the first state to designate an official state shell, the Scotch bonnet. Since then, 14 other states have designated an official state shell.

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west by Alabama. Georgia is the 24th-largest state in area and 8th most populous of the 50 United States. Its 2020 population was 10,711,908, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta, a "beta(+)" global city, is both the state's capital and its largest city. The Atlanta metropolitan area, with a population of more than 6 million people in 2021, is the 8th most populous metropolitan area in the United States and contains about 57% of Georgia's entire population.

New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is the most densely populated U.S. state. A coastal state, New Jersey is situated at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, the most populous American urban agglomeration. The state lies within both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. New Jersey is bordered on its north and east by the state of New York; on its east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on its west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on its southwest by Delaware Bay and the state of Delaware. At 7,354 square miles (19,050 km2), New Jersey is the fifth-smallest state in land area, but with close to 9.3 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever, ranks 11th in population. The state capital is Trenton, and the most populous city is Newark. New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau, with 13 counties included in the New York metropolitan area, seven counties in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and with Warren County constituting part of the rapidly industrializing Lehigh Valley metropolitan area.

Neptunea antiqua

Neptunea antiqua

Neptunea antiqua, common name the red whelk, is a species of Northeast Atlantic sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Cominella adspersa

Cominella adspersa

Cominella adspersa, the speckled whelk or kawari in Maori, is a predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cominellidae.

Neptunea lyrata

Neptunea lyrata

Neptunea lyrata, also known by the common names New England Neptune, wrinkled whelk, ribbed Neptune, inflated whelk, lyre whelk or lyre Neptune, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Buccinidae, and is the state shell of Massachusetts. This species consists of several subspecies.

Nucella lamellosa

Nucella lamellosa

Nucella lamellosa, commonly known as the frilled dogwinkle or wrinkled purple whelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. This species occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending in the intertidal zone from the Aleutian Islands southward to central California.

Source: "Whelk", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 26th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whelk.

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See also
  • Conch, another common name used for a wide variety of large sea snails or their shells
References
  1. ^ "Whelk". Merriam Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 26 Feb 2023.
  2. ^ "Snails and Slugs (Gastropoda)". www.molluscs.at.
  3. ^ "Nutrition and Calories in Whelk". recipeofhealth.com.
  4. ^ Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Saint the Venerable Bede (Book 1, Chapter 1).
  5. ^ Werner, Alex. (2011). Dickens's Victorian London : 1839-1901. Williams, Tony., Museum of London. London: Museum of London. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-09-194373-8. OCLC 754167835.
  6. ^ Multilingual Dictionary of Fish and Fish Products, prepared by the OECD, Paris, second edition, 1978
External links

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