. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. An Egg off a Different Kind Pretty shells aren't the only ocean gifts you'll find at the tide line. Egg cases of different sizes, shapes and ori- gins commonly wash ashore along Tar Heel beaches. A String of Whelk Iggs Who would have thought that the hard-shelled whelk would begin its life in a necklace of eggs? The mother whelk secretes a spiral- ing strand of parchmentlike oval sacs filled with eggs. After creating these egg cases, which can measure up to 2 feet long, the mother whelk attaches them to a
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. An Egg off a Different Kind Pretty shells aren't the only ocean gifts you'll find at the tide line. Egg cases of different sizes, shapes and ori- gins commonly wash ashore along Tar Heel beaches. A String of Whelk Iggs Who would have thought that the hard-shelled whelk would begin its life in a necklace of eggs? The mother whelk secretes a spiral- ing strand of parchmentlike oval sacs filled with eggs. After creating these egg cases, which can measure up to 2 feet long, the mother whelk attaches them to a shell or rock or buries one end in the subtidal sand. Often, however, the cases wash ashore after becoming dislodged by storms and waves. Inside each sac are 20 to 100 eggs. Baby whelks, about the size of the dot over this "i," first hatch inside the sac, where they feed on other unhatched eggs and stored protein. After about two weeks inside the sac, the baby whelks chew their way out of the incubation chamber. Each whelk hatchling emerges as a miniature version of its parents, with its tiny shell having only one whorl. The egg sacs of different whelk spe- cies vary in shape. The sac edges of the knobbed whelk are flat and square; but the edges of the channeled whelk are sharp. Devils' Pocketbooks Coastal folks call them "devils' pocketbooks" or "mermaids' ; Landlubbers often question the identity of the hard, black pouches that wash up along our state's beaches. They're the egg sacs of skates, those fan-shaped marine critters with the long tail. The sacs are black, 1 to 3 inches long and rectangular, with a curly horn at each corner. The horns extract oyygen from the water and extrude wastes. Inside each black sac is a single egg with a large yolk. Female skates are mi- grating inshore now to lay these eggs. The underside of the sac is sticky and adheres to underwater plants. Hidden. among the flora and protected by its leathery encasement
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
