Penny Wallace

Science/English

October 25, 2015

Knobbed Whelk

     The Knobbed Whelk or Busycon carica lives in tidal marsh estuaries. The Knobbed Whelk is commonly found in shallow waters but can be found offshore in depths up to 150 ft. The region of this organism is all through the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida. The domain is eukaryot and the kingdom is animalia. The phylum is mollusca and the class is gastropoda. The order is neogastropoda and the family is melongenidae. The genus and species is Busycon carica. This organism is usually five to nine inches in length. It has a spiral shell with pointy knobbes on its shoulder. The shell can be the following colors gray, white, or tan. The inside of the shell is from yellow to orange. A cool fact about this organism is that it has existed for more than 30 million years. Wow, that's a long time! The Knobbed Whelk is fished for their meat and the Knobbed Whelk is sold in markets for decorations. Predators to this organism are crabs, sea stars, and urchins. Prey to this organism are clams, oysters, mussels, and other bivalves. This organism relies on other organisms for food, therefore it is a heterotroph. Also this organism is ectothermic, so its body temperature relies on the temperature of its surroundings. A structural adaptation to this organism is how hard the shell is. The hard shell protects the Knobbed Whelk from predators. Also, another structural adaptation is that since the shape of the shell is so deep in the inside of the shell, the organism can hide deep in its shell. That protects itself from predators. Finally the last adaptation is that the operculum acts as if it is a trapped door when the snail reacts into its shell. The operculum benefits the Knobbed Whelk by protecting itself from predators. That adaptation is structural.  The Knobbed Welk is asymmetrical, meaning it has no symmetry.

(work cited) I got my information from:

"Knobbed Whelk"

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/knobbed_whelk, http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/Knobbedwhelk.pdf, and http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Busycon_carica.htm

1 Nov. 2015

I cut out Hastings in the picture. I found this picture on the learning commons :)