Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve Spot Lightning Whelks

Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve (EBAP) staff often find interesting flora and fauna while out in the field. This week was no exception. Commonly known as a lightning whelk, Sinistrofulgur perversum, is a type of mollusk or marine snail that can be found throughout Estero Bay. This snail creates a shell that spirals in the opposite direction of other locally found marine snails. Interestingly, it is one of the few left-handed snail species! The name comes from the stripes on the shell as they resemble lightning bolts. 

Lightning whelks are carnivorous, eating mostly bivalves and other smaller mollusks. Empty lightning whelk shells provide protection and habitat for other animal species including hermit crabs. The Native American Calusa tribe harvested these snails for food and used their shells for tools such as hammers. EBAP staff typically find lightning whelks on mud flats and sometimes in seagrass beds during oyster and seagrass monitoring seasons.