About Fulguropsis spirata (Lamarck, 1816)
Fulguropsis spirata, commonly known as the pear whelk, is a species of sea snail. It is a marine gastropod mollusk that belongs to the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. To distinguish it from other Fulguropsis species that also share the common name pear whelk, this species is sometimes called the Gulf pear whelk. This edible mollusk is currently found in waters stretching from the Caribbean to the Western Gulf of Mexico. Previously, researchers thought the species ranged across the entire Gulf of Mexico down the Florida Peninsula, and extended as far north as North Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean. Today, Fulguropsis spirata is generally not found east of the Mississippi Delta. Any Fulguropsis individuals found east of the Mississippi Delta are most likely the species Fulguropsis pyruloides. Because of this historical misidentification, many existing records of Fulguropsis pyruloides from regions east of the Mississippi Delta are incorrectly labelled as Fulguropsis spirata. Adult pear whelks can grow to 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. Their shells are thin, typically marked by a long siphonal canal and a short, flattened spire. Most individuals have a cream-colored background shell, though some specimens have axial brown streaks, matching the coloration pattern of the lightning whelk. The egg cases of this species resemble those of the lightning whelk and knobbed whelk, but are smaller, thinner, and have spikes along their edges.
