page_title: Dog whelk
section_title: Life cycle
hierarchical_section_title: Dog whelk / Ecology / Life cycle
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Capsules ovigères de Nucella lapillus sur l'estran de
context_page_description: The dog whelk, dogwhelk, or Atlantic dogwinkle is a species of predatory sea snail, a carnivorous marine gastropod in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
  Nucella lapillus was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Buccinum lapillus.
  "Dog whelk" can also refer to the Nassariidae.
caption: Nucella lapillus snails and their freshly laid egg capsules.
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