[1] This species occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending in the intertidal zone from the Aleutian Islands southward to central California.

It is found intertidally on rocks from the mid to lower shore and is one of the commonest whelks in this habitat in the Pacific Northwest.

Here, the shell tended to get longer with a high spire, enabling the whelk to retract its soft tissues as far as possible from the seastar.

[4] If both crabs and seastars were present, the shell phenotype that tended to evolve reflected the response to the predator that caused the greatest mortality.

[4] Breeding takes place in hidden locations such as under rocks, with many whelks congregating to mate and lay eggs in capsules which resemble clusters of oats as they dangle from the substrate.