The female whelk lays spongy egg capsules with hundreds of eggs. These form round clusters or a tower-shaped masses. Only about 10% of these eggs hatch. The larvae then feed on the rest of the eggs that have not yet hatched. The flesh of the common northern whelk, Buccinum undatum, is much appreciated by connoisseurs as a food item, but its consumption is currently somewhat in decline. The empty shell of a whelk is often used by the hermit crab to make its home. Taxonomy According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the family Buccinidae consists of six subfamilies: Subfamily Buccininae Rafinesque, 1815 tribe Ancistrolepidini Habe & Sato, 1973 tribe Buccinini Rafinesque, 1815 tribe Buccinulini Finlay, 1928 tribe Colini Gray, 1857 - synonyms: Neptuneinae Stimpson, 1865; Chrysodominae Dall, 1870; Pyramimitridae Cossmann, 1901; Truncariinae Cossmann, 1901; Metajapelioninae Gorychaev, 1987 tribe Cominellini Gray, 1857: in 2021 upgraded to family level Cominellidae tribe Liomesini P. Fischer, 1884 - synonym: Buccinopsidae G. O. Sars, 1878 (inv.) tribe Parancistrolepidini Habe, 1972 - synonym: Brevisiphoniinae Lus, 1973 tribe Prosiphonini Powell, 1951 tribe Volutopsiini Habe & Sato, 1973 Subfamily Beringiinae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1975 Subfamily Busyconinae* Wade, 1917 (1867) : presently, Busyconinae is treated as a synonym of the Busyconidae. Subfamily Donovaniinae Casey, 1904 - synonym: Lachesinae L. Bellardi, 1877 (inv.) Subfamily Neptuneinae W. Stimpson, 1865 Subfamily Siphonaliinae Finlay, 1928 - synonym: Austrosiphonidae Cotton & Godfrey, 1938 The subfamily Pisaniinae has been raised to the status of family Pisaniidae in 2009 by Galindo, L. A.; Puillandre, N.; Utge, J.; Lozouet, P.; Bouchet, P. Genera Genera within the family Buccinidae include: subfamily Buccininae tribe Ancistrolepidini Ancistrolepis Dall, 1895 tribe Buccinini Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758 Suessionia Cossmann, 1889 † tribe Buccinulini Buccinulum Deshayes, 1830 tribe Colini Truncaria Adams & Reeve, 1850 tribe Liomesini Liomesus Stimpson, 1865 tribe Parancistrolepidini Parancistrolepis Azuma, 1965 tribe Prosiphonini Prosipho Thiele, 1912 tribe Volutopsiini Volutopsius Mörch, 1857 Subfamily Beringiinae Beringius Dall, 1887 subfamily Donovaniinae Subfamily Neptuneinae W. Stimpson, 1865 Aulacofusus Dall, 1918 Neptunea Röding, 1798 subfamily Siphonaliinae Siphonalia A. Adams, 1863 subfamily ? Aeneator Finlay, 1927 Afer Conrad, 1858 Anomacme Strebel, 1905 Anomalosipho Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1912 Antarctodomus A. Adams, 1863 Antarctoneptunea Dell, 1972 Antistreptus Dall, 1902 Argeneuthria Pastorino, 2016 Atractodon Charlesworth, 1837 Austrofusus Kobelt, 1879 Bartschia Rehder, 1943 Bathyancistrolepis Habe & Ito, 1968 Bathybuccinum Golikov & Sirenko, 1989 Bathydomus Thiele, 1912 Bayerius Olsson, 1971 Beringion Habe & Ito, 1965