Image of Sinistrofulgur pulleyi (Hollister 1958)

Description:

I found a nice shell of the Lightning Whelk, Busycon puleyi, at the edge of Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. It is a common species around here, and often seen with a hermit crab. This one appeared to have a dead crab inside. It was a juvenile shell with the typical pattern which fades away as the shell grows. The sun was setting down, so I took several photos of the shell against the sky an bay, as possible ideas for the cover of a field guide on Texas seashells that will come out soon. However, the Texas A&M University Press decided to design a different cover (see other photo); nice, but I think a photo of a shell in the field might have been more appropriate for a field guide, especially one with the Texas state shell.