Genera Antillophos, Engoniophos, Phos, Nassaria, Tomlinia, Anentome and Clea were treated within family Buccinidae, but they were moved to Nassariidae in 2016.

The shells of species in this family are moderate to large in size, conical to fusiform in shape.

The head has two conical, depressed tentacles which bear the eyes on a lobe or prominence at their base.

On the left side, it has an elongated, open canal, that emerges by a notch or groove in the shell.

Many whelks are capable of boring through the shell of bivalves, and because of this, some species cause much harm in oyster farms.

True whelks can even attack fish caught in a net by extending their probosces to twice the length of their own bodies.

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.