Buccinum

Whelk ( Buccinum undatum )

Buccinum is the name of a species-rich genus of snail from the family of horn snails ( Buccinidae ), which are medium -sized to large species Circumboreal in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to find. Probably the most common type is the occurring throughout the North Atlantic whelk ( Buccinum undatum ), but which is threatened as other species of the genus in many areas by water pollution.

Features

The housing of the dextral Buccin species are more or less conical. They have a high thread and usually have a bulbous body handling. The surface may be smooth striped or folded and spiral, in some species with edges and nodes. The apex is usually grow in the younger whorls. The rather large case mouth is ovate, widely cut down, with a simple outer edge and without varix. The spindle is cut irregularly and often forms two distinct angles. The most large operculum is circular to oval and entire, with a centrally located nucleus or at the outer edge.

The snails are like most dioecious prosobranch. The male mated the female with his long penis. The female lays egg capsules, in which there are besides some viable eggs many Nähreier. As far as known, a direct development takes place at all Buccin species, wherein the embryos consume Nähreier in the egg case to slip and some weeks after oviposition as finished screw. The ontogeny has been among others, Buccinum undatum, B. and B. bayani been studied isaotakii.

Like other horn snails Buccinum species feed mainly on polychaetes, molluscs and carrion.

History of systematics

Linnaeus described the genus Buccinum 1758 as a worm with one-piece spiral rounded bowl with an egg-shaped opening, which ends in a small right-most channel ( " blunt " in the form retusa in a lacuna ), with a blunt tip and a planar inner lip. On the basis of these morphological features of the snail shell he includes in this genus in addition to the whelks numerous other species such as the tons of snails ( Buccinum galea, B. dolium, B. perdix ), harp snail ( Buccinum harpa ), the netted dog whelk (Buccinum reticulatus ) or to the whelks belonging, but stingless Nordic Purpurschnecke a (Buccinum lapillus ).

As the type species of whelk ( Buccinum undatum ) has been established. The scope of the genus was concentrated increasing with time. The heterogeneity of the genus and the need for revision is described for example by Heinrich Carl Küster 1858, without having received such succeeds in full. Wilhelm Kobelt limited, however, in 1883 the class are already on the today counted to the same horn snails, by excluding which are not directly related species, providing into other genres.