FAMILY: Busyconidae 

BINOMIAL NAME: Sinistrofulgur perversum 

COMMON NAME(S): Lightning Whelk 

LOCATION(S) FOUND: North Carolina to Florida and Texas 

DESCRIPTION CITATION: Hollister, 1958 

EX COLLECTION: Lee & Leveta Hodges 

SPECIMEN SIZE: 4.50 x 2.00 in. approx / ~ 112 mm 

DESCRIPTION: White and grey crowned shell with soft ridges and triangular knobs at the shoulder, spiral threads, narrow axial bands of reddish brown, interior is soft browns and pinks. An attractive specimen. NOTE: Labelling appears to misidentify this as shell as busycon carica, but it just doesn't match those characteristics in the field guides: the left-handed (sinistral) opening is what convinced me that the original ID was wrong. Formerly called Busycon contrarium. 

CONDITION: No obvious damage or injury noted - excellent condition. 

LISTING NOTE: This shell was either originally purchased from legal dealers, or legally collected in or before the 1980s, prior to the enactment of protection rules, based upon internal evidence in the collection. To the best of our knowledge, no infringement of local protection rules has been committed.