Sinistrofulgur perversum, the lightning whelk, is a species of very large predatory sea snailorwhelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks. This species has a left-handed or sinistral shell. It eats mostly bivalves.
| Sinistrofulgur perversum | |
|---|---|
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| Sinistrofulgur perversum found in France, with the operculum in place | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Family: | Busyconidae |
| Genus: | Sinistrofulgur |
| Species: |
S. perversum
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| Binomial name | |
| Sinistrofulgur perversum (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
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| Range | |
| Synonyms | |
There has been some disagreement about the correct scientific name for this species, which has been confused with Sinistrofulgur sinistrum Hollister, 1958, and Busycon contrarium (Conrad, 1840), which is an exclusively fossil species.[1][2]
This marine species is native to the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and southeastern North America, from New Jersey south to Florida and the Gulf states.
Lightning whelks can be found in the sandy or muddy substrate of shallow embayments.
This whelk species feeds primarily on marine bivalves, ingesting their soft parts using its proboscis.
This species shares many characteristics with another species, the knobbed whelk Busycon carica, but there are some important differences:[citation needed]
For thousands of years Native Americans used these animals as food, and used their shells for tools, ornaments, containers and to make jewelry, i.e. shell gorgets.[3] They may have believed the sinistral nature of the lightning whelk shell made it a sacred object. The Minnesota Woman (lived c. 6000 BCE in modern Minnesota) wore a Sinistrofulgur perversum shell.[4]
The lightning whelk is the "State Seashell of Texas".[5]
