The Buccinidae, or Whelks, include hundreds of species which inhabit all oceans of the world. The family encompasses a wide variety of shell shapes and forms. The cold water species ranging to the extreme polar regions are the most notable of this family. Some are quite rare and sought-after by collectors. Though drab in comparison to their tropical relatives, a subtle beauty can be seen in the shell form, shape, and sculpture. A few of the cold water Buccinids are naturally sinistral, or have apertures that open to the left. Many of the deep water Buccinid species are brought up as a bi-product of the fishing trawlers. Other Buccinids inhabit shallow water, intertidal areas. The tropical species of Buccinids are conversely quite colorful, and exhibit an equally interesting array of sculpture and form. The diversity of species make a collection of Buccinidae implicitly beautiful.

LITERATURE: There are literally hundreds of scientific papers and monographs dealing with Buccinidae. A select list of literature that deal in whole with Buccinidae are included in the literature window at the lower left. Many popular shell books and regional monographs also include sections on Buccinidae. Among the body of literature with sizeable Buccinidae sections are, Seashells of Russia in Colour, Bogdanov & Sirenko, 1993; Marine Mollusca of Point Barrow, Alaska, MacGinitie, 1959, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. Vol. 109, No. 3412; Antarctic Mollusca, Dell, 1990, Roy. Soc. N.Zealand, Bull.27.  [more to be added soon]
Buccinidae
Buccinidae

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SELECTED BUCCINIDAE LITERATURE

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BUCCINIDAE CLASSIFICATION

Phylum: MOLLUSCA (Linné, 1758) Cuvier, 1795

Class: GASTROPODA Cuvier, 1797

Subclass: PROSOBRANCHIA Milne Edwards, 1848

Order: CAENOGASTROPODA Cox, 1959

Suborder: NEOGASTROPODA Thiele, 1929

      Superfamily: MURICOIDEA da Costa, 1776

Family:BUCCINIDAE Rafinesque, 1815




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BUCCINIDAE SUBFAMILIES & GENERA
Subfamily: BUCCININAE
 
Subfamily: VOLUTOPSIINAE
     
  
Subfamily: PHOTINAE
     
  
Subfamily: PISANIINAE
 
Subfamily: BUCCININAE back to menutop of page
Ancistrolepis eucosmius Ancistrolepis eucosmius (Dall, 1891) - Alaska, 26mm - trawled in 180 meters of water off Kodiak Island. Living on coarse gravel. Ref.: Aulacofusus periscelidus Aulacofusus periscelidus (Dall, 1891) - Alaska, 39mm - dredged in 90-100 meters of water in the Aleutian Islands. Ranges from the Aleutian Islands south to Hokkaido Island, Japan. Ref.: Abbott, R.T., 1974, American Seashells, p.209, fig.2297. Aulacofusus periscelidus Aulacofusus periscelidus (Dall, 1891) [+ Colus periscelidus (Dall, 1891)] - Alaska, 38mm; dredged in 20 meters of water in the Aleutian Islands. Living on rocky substrate. Ref.:
Beringion aleuticus Beringion aleuticus Dall, 1894 - Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 75-76mm - trawled in ± 170 meters of water. Living on black sand/gravel. A rare species. Ref.: Beringius crebricostatus Beringius crebricostatus (Dall, 1887) - Alaska, 69mm - living in 3-5 meters of water in the Aleutian Islands. Ref.: Buccinum angulosum Buccinum angulosum Gray, 1839 - New Foundland, 57mm - trawled in 255 meters of water off New Foundland. A circumboreal species found from the North Atlantic to Point Barrow, Alaska along the Arctic coast, and south into the Bering Sea. Various names have been applied to varieties of this species found in the western portion of its range. Ref.: Abbott, R.T., 1974, American Seashells, p.206, no.2240.
Buccinum angulosum Buccinum angulosum Gray, 1839 - Bering Sea, 70mm - taken from King Crab pot set in 180 meters of water northwest of Pribilof Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea. This shell is more typical of the condition the species is found. Ref.: Tiba, R. and Kosuge, S., North Pacific Shells (14), Genus Buccinum, p.65-68, 2 fig. Buccinum habui Buccinum habui (Tiba, 1984) - Japan, 36mm - trawled in 250 meters of water off Hokkaido Island. Limited to the northern waters of Japan. Ref.: Tiba, R., 1984, Bull. Inst. Malac. Tokyo, 1(10) 141-142, pl. 48, figs. 1-5. - Tiba, R. and Kosuge, S., North Pacific Shells (14), Genus Buccinum, p.81-82, 1 fig. Buccinum morchianum Buccinum morchianum (Dunker, 1858) [+ castaneum Dall, 1877] - Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 62mm - taken in 147 meters of water; living on tube worm colonies. Abbott (1974) considered morchianum to be a carinate form of Buccinum glaciale. Ref.: Abbott, R.T., 1974, American Seashells, p.204, no.2192 - Bogdanov, I. and Sirenko, B., 1993, Seashells of Russia in Colour, p.24, figs.1-5.
Buccinum sigmatopleura Buccinum sigmatopleura Dall, 1907 - Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 67mm - Living on sand, stones and scallop valves in ± 130 meters of water. Ref.: Liomesus nux Liomesus nux (Dall, 1877) - Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 24-27mm - dredged in 100+ meters of water. Living on sand and shell fragments. Ref.: Plicifusus oceanodromae Plicifusus oceanodromae Dall, 1919 - Alaska, 44-51mm - from the same habitat as Liomesus nux. Ref.:
Siphonofusus chrysodomoides Siphonofusus chrysodomoides Schepman, 1911 - Western Australia, 95-112mm; a deep water species trawled by fishing boat from 450 meters of water. Ref.:    
Subfamily: VOLUTOPSIINAE back to menutop of page
Volutopsius callorhinus Volutopsius callorhinus (Dall, 1877) - Alaska, 44-45mm - dredged in ± 100 meters of water in the Aleutian Islands. Ref.: Volutopsius regularis Volutopsius regularis (Dall, 1873) - Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 46-51mm - living in 3-5 meters of water among rocks. Ref.:  
Subfamily: PHOTINAE back to menutop of page
Denticulabrum sangirensis Denticulabrum sangirensis (Martin, 1906) - Java, Indonesia, 33mm - rare mid-pliocene fossil. Ref.: Vermeij, G. J., 1999 Denticulabrum, a new genus of buccinid gastropods (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) from the Neogene of Indonesia. Basteria 63: 185-191.    
Subfamily: PISANIINAE back to menutop of page
Clivipollia fragaria Clivipollia fragaria (Wood, 1828) - Kwajalein Atoll, 21mm - The pink, black and white coloration and intricate corded sculpture of this species makes it one of the favorite of shell collectors. The illustrated shell was collected by a scuba diver in 40 feet of water. Ref.: Engina egregia Engina egregia (Reeve, 1844) - Kwajalein Atoll, 20mm - A rather uncommon Buccinid, typically found on and under coral rubble from intertidal areas down to subtidally depths. The illustrated shell was collected by a scuba diver from 60 feet of water at night. It was buried in coral rubble. The external sculptural characteristics tend to vary considerably. Ref.: Cernohorsky, W.O., 1978, Tropical Pacific Marine Shells, p.75, Pl.22 f.9. Engina lineata Engina lineata (Reeve, 1846) - Western Samoa, 11mm - similar to Engina zonalis, but much more common throughout the Tropical Pacific. Ref.: Cernohorsky, W.O., 1972, Marine Shells of the Pacific, Vol. II, p.143, Pl.39 f.4.
Peristernia columbarium Peristernia columbarium (Reeve, 1847) - Western Samoa, 22-23mm - found on intertidal coral rubble rocks, exposed at low tide. Found in the Central Pacific west to the Philippines and Indonesia. A synonym of the spiny form is spinosa Martyn, 1784. Ref.: Cernohorsky, W.O., 1972, Marine Shells of the Pacific, Vol. II, p.159, Pl.47, f.4. Peristernia lirata Peristernia lirata (Reeve, 1847) - Marquesas Islands, 24mm - endemic to the Marquesas Ids. Most often found intertidally on and under coral rubble. Ref.: Pisania ignea Pisania ignea (Gmelin, 1791) - Kwajalein Atoll, 22mm - this specimen from inside the atoll is uncharacteristically lacking markings on the body whorl commonly found in the species. The shell was found on a hard reef surface in 60 feet of water. Ref.:
Pollia erythrostoma Pollia erythrostoma (Reeve, 1846) [+ Cantharus erythrostoma] - Western Australia, 30-32mm - Relatively common in the Western Pacific. In Australia it is known from north W. Australia to Queensland. The picture illustrates two extreme color forms. Ref.: Wilson, B.R. & Gillett, K., 1971, Field Guide to Australian Shells, p.168, Pl.38, f.4. Pollia undosus Pollia undosus (Linné, 1758) - Kwajalein Atoll, 26mm - specimens from the Marshall Islands tend to be somewhat darker and smaller, though these characteristics are not consistent. This specimen was found in 5 feet of water on reef flat in among coral rubble. Ref.: Cernohorsky, W.O., 1972, Marine Shells of the Pacific, Vol. II, p.141, Pl.38 f.5. Prodotia iostomus Prodotia iostomus (Gray, in Griffiths & Pidgeon, 1834) - Kwajalein Atoll, 22mm - a varied species. It is moderately common throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. The varied shell shapes have spawned numerous nomenclatural synonyms. Ref.: Cernohorsky, W.O., 1978, Tropical Pacific Marine Shells, p.77, Pl.23 f.1.
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