Channeled whelks have a smoother exterior than knobbed whelks, and they have hard channels to the shell. They also cruise the intertidal zone and the shallow beaches looking for prey. Sometimes they are eaten by people (the Italian dish scungilli is made with whelks), and the shells were used as tools by early people living on the barrier islands. Egg cases have a hard chine to each small unit, compared to the knobbed whelk’s squared off edges.