Marine Species Identification Portal : Buccinum humphreysianum

Bennet, 1824

Description (shell):
Shell rather broad oval, thin, without obvious periostracum, a little transparent, apparently smooth. Spire rather regularly conical. Aperture oval, siphonal canal short and wide. Siphonal fasciole slight; expansion of inner lip over last whorl extremely thin. The shell has eight whorls which are swollen and meet at pronounced sutures. When closely examined their surface is seen to be divided into square areas by a large number of fine spiral ridges crossing an equal number of prosocline growth lines of similar size. The aperture is narrower than in Buccinum undatum, the outer lip thinner, the siphonal canal more slender and distinct, and the siphonal fasciole is, at most, a slight fold. Last whorl occupies about 70 % of shell height, aperture just over half (B. humphreysianum-drawing).
Their mode of life is not known but is perhaps not very different from that of Buccinum undatum.

Size:
Up to 45 x 25 mm.

Colour:
Yellowish white, with reddish brown streaks or spots, sometimes faint.

Animal:
Animal with small, slightly angulated, oval operculum. The animal resembles Buccinum undatum except in the shape and size of the operculum.

Habitat:
Found on soft bottoms, in rather deep water (around the British Isles 100-150 m deep).

Distribution:
Apparently rare. Animals have been found between the Mediterranean and Norway. Round the British Isles records off the Shetlands, the Hebrides, and west and south Ireland (Distr. B. humphreysianum).

Buccinum humphreysianum