Egg Case Chain of the Lightning Whelk 3-2-12

The egg case chain of the lightning whelk (Busycon sinistrum) is the most common egg chain on the beach and can measure up to four feet in length. The female whelk may spend more than a week laying it and attaches it to a pebble or shell buried in the sand. The egg chain may bear 50 to 180 cases and each case may hold from 20 to 200 embryos which will then go on to produce more lightning
whelks.