Franco Banfi / True whelk sea snail (Buccinum sp) on rock. Tasiilaq, East Greenland. April.

Franco Banfi / True whelk sea snail (Buccinum sp) on rock. Tasiilaq, East Greenland. April.

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) on maerl (Corallinales) bed, a priority marine feature. Within a Marine Protected Area, Shetland, Scotland, UK, September.

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) laying eggs, Loch Creran, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, November. Small repro only.

Alex Hyde / Eggs of Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) on beach. Anglesey, Wales, UK. December.

MYN / Dimitris Poursanidis / Sea snail shell (Pollia scacchiana) Greece. meetyourneighbours.net project

Sue Daly / Eggs of Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) on beach, Sark, British Channel Islands.

Sue Daly / Eggs of Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) on seaweed washed up on beach, Sark, British Channel Islands.

Sue Daly / Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) Bouley Bay, Jersey, British Channel Islands.

Nick Upton / Egg masses of Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) washed up on high water mark alongside dried out Bladder wrack fronds (Fucus vesiculosus), Rhossili, The Gower peninsula, Wales, UK, June.

Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / Pear whelk (Fulguropsis spirata) showing underside, on black background, Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and Aquarium.

Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / Pear whelk (Fulguropsis spirata) portrait, Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and Aquarium.