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The eggs are kept in capsules and a female can normally lay up to 140 egg capsules, each containing about 2000 eggs.
Two females laying their egg capsules together. |
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The female, in contrast to the male,
cannot mate every year because it takes longer than a year for
the female to produce eggs. After mating, the sperms can be stored within the female for up to eight weeks and consequently can decide the time and place for egg laying. The eggs are layed on hard substrate in shallow water. The larger the female, the larger the number of eggs that are layed and therefore more young snails that develope in each capsule. With the lack of hard substrate, females lay their eggs together and it is not uncommon with egg collections numbering up to 3000 egg capsules. These collections are sensitive to wave activity and after stormy periods it is not uncommon to see eggs washed up onto the beach. Whelks surround their egg collections with capsules that are either empty or contain very few eggs. These capsules can represent about 10% of the total number of capsules and is probably a defence mechanism against predators such as sea-urchins. Sometimes, empty egg capsules are found washed up onto the beach. |
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