it for bait. Fresh whelks are generally available in the spring and fall. They're also available cooked, preserved in vinegar and canned. Because of their lack of popularity, whelks may be difficult to find except in Chinese or Italian markets or specialty food stores. Whelk is naturally tough and must usually be tenderized by pounding. It benefits from brief, gentle cooking. The Italians refer to whelk as scungilli, and the famous scungilli marinara is a garlicky dish of whelk cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with basil, oregano and hot pepper seeds.
Whelks are scavengers and carnivores, equipped with an extensible proboscis that is tipped with a file-like radula. The radula is used to bore holes through the shells of clams, crabs and lobsters. They also have a large, muscular foot with which they hold their victims. Like other mollusks, whelks have a mantle, a thin layer of tissue located between the body and the shell that creates the shell. Whelks build their hard shells from the calcium carbonate they extract from the seas. The shells can grow up to 9.5 inches (24 cm) long.
Whelk shells are generally light grey to tan, often having brown and white streaks. The shells coil dextrally (right-handed, or in a clockwise direction) and have a long siphonal canal. The shell shape of individual specimens may vary widely in both coloration and sculpture.
The knobbed whelk, Busycon carica, is the largest species, ranging up to 16 in. (40.6 cm). They have tubercles (or spines) along the shoulder. Knobbed whelks eat clams. They open the clam with their hard shell and insert their long proboscis. Today the knobbed whelk is a common predator of the intertidal mudflats and can be found offshore to 26 fathoms (48 m). The channeled whelk is slightly smaller than the knobbed whelk and has a smooth shell with channels following the swirls at the top of the shell.
Another name for whelk in the United States is scungilli. The name is an Italian-American corruption of the Neapolitan word, sconciglio.
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