Description
This large snail has a shell with 6 to 8 rounded windings. At the front side the animal has a kind of trunk, that is called siphon. Below this siphon, just before the gills you can find its smelling organ. It often lives buried in the sand or mud, with only the siphon sticking out. At the back of its foot, you can see a small plate (operculum) that is used to close the shell. The eggs are laid in a capsule, with a diameter of about 10 mm. Many capsules are laid together in a spongy lump, the size of a fist. The young whelks that develop quickest, will eat the slower ones. The numbers that survive are rather small, from more then 1000 eggs in a lump, only a few will hatch. They are eaten in several countries.

Size
Up to 120 mm.

Colour
Brown to brownish yellow shell, the foot is very light, almost white with dark spots.

Habitat
The common whelk can be found from the shallow coastal waters down do great depths.

Distribution
North Atlantic ocean from Iceland till Spain.