Buccinum baerii

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Buccinum baerii, or Baer's buccinum, is a sea snail in the true whelk family (Buccinidae). Adults have shells 25–54 mm long. The shell is elongated to oval with a large, rounded body whorl and a pointed spire. It has many rounded spiral cords on the whorls; in some shells the cords are large with broad, low ribs. The amount of surface sculpture varies among individuals and is not tied to location. The opening (aperture) is broad and oval and tilts upward. The siphonal canal is short and broad. The inner lip and the parietal wall curve and show a thin yellowish-white callus. The small oval operculum sits at the opening. Shell color ranges from yellowish-brown to purplish-gray. Baer's buccinum shells can host larval trematodes. A hermit crab, Pagurus hirsutiusculus, may be found living in empty Baer's buccinum shells. This snail lives in cold waters on rocky shores or sandy/gravely bottoms from the intertidal zone down to about 15 meters, from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands south to Kodiak, Alaska.