Wrigleya transversaria
Wrigleya transversaria
Common name
Whelk
Fossil group
Molluscs
Order
Neogastropoda
Family
Buccinidae
Genus
Wrigleya
Taxonomic status
Accepted
Geological age
Ypresian
Summary
Wrigleya transversaria was an active benthic whelk and probably one of the generalist predators and scavengers of the London Clay seabed. It likely moved across soft sediment searching for small prey or carrion rather than remaining fixed in one place.
Its siphonate body plan would have helped it detect chemical cues carried through the water while foraging. The precise diet is not preserved, so this lifestyle is inferred from its relationships with predatory and scavenging whelks.
Quick Identification
Look for: an elongate fusiform whelk with a tall spire, strong broad axial ribs crossed by many close spiral cords to form a coarse net-like texture, and a long straight tapering siphonal canal.
Diagnostic Features
- Shell is elongate-fusiform with a relatively high, turreted spire.
- Strong axial costae extend across the teleoconch whorls.
- Numerous close spiral cords cross the axial costae, producing regular reticulate or nodular intersections.
- The body whorl narrows progressively into a long anterior neck.
- The siphonal canal is long, narrow and comparatively straight.
Fossil Details
Typical size
About 35 mm.
Fossil material
Shell, Internal Mould / Cast
Preservation
The long siphonal canal, outer lip and apex are easily broken. Wear can flatten the reticulate sculpture, so complete adult shells are preferable for Species-level identification.
Similar Species
Recorded Fossil Sites
London Clay Formation
Thames Group
Historical
References
- Fedosov, A. E.; Lemarcis, T.; Bouchet, P.; Harzhauser, M.; Kantor, Y. I.; Kiel, S.; Modica, M. V.; Oliverio, M.; Zaharias, P.; Puillandre, N. (2026). Phylogeny, classification, and evolutionary history of Neogastropoda. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 207(3), zlag058 View reference
- Jeffery, P.; Tracey, S. (1997). The Early Eocene London Clay Formation mollusc fauna of the former Bursledon Brickworks, Lower Swanwick, Hampshire. Tertiary Research, 17(3–4), 75–137 View reference
Last Reviewed
15 August 2026
Reviewed by
Sam Harris