Eric spotted this beautiful Striped Dogwhelk (Nucella ostrina) yesterday (2 May 2025). This is a common snail in the rocky intertidal zone in northern California, but we can't recall seeing purple variants of Nucella ostrina, so here's a photo for the record.
More often, Striped Dogwhelks are versions of black, brown, gray, or white. Here are some individuals feeding on barnacles:
Occasionally you'll spot an orange Nucella ostrina —they really stand out!
Breeding experiments suggest that color variation in Nucella ostrina likely has a genetic basis (Palmer 1984).
2 comments:
This is so interesting. I've seen them before, but never really looked at them. Next time at the coast I will for sure. Thank you for the curiosity your posts inspire. I have a couple of questions - one source said that while there's a range of exterior colors, the interior is purple. Has that been your observation? And do you know the origin of their common name?
Hi, Trina!
Thanks so much for the comments and questions!
Generally, yes, the interior of Nucella ostrina's shell is purple. However, your question made me realize that I haven't looked closely at the interior of the orange shells. I'll try to do that soon and will report back!
Re: the name "dog whelk" -- although I've been around snails with this name for decades, I can't recall looking into the story behind the common name, so I'll ask around to see what I can find! Good question!
:) Jackie
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