[1] In the early 20th century, William Healey Dall would come to the conclusion that the species belong to a genus up until then known only from the Atlantic fossil record, Searlesia.

[4][5] This remained the status quo for most of the century, with more living species from both the Atlantic and Pacific added to Searlesia until 1991, when Geerat J. Vermeij split the Pacific species into a separate genus Lirabuccinum with B. dirum as its type.

[6] L. dirum is a medium-sized, elongated whelk with a strong heavy shell, growing to a length of 45 mm (1.8 in).

Its range extends from the Chirikof Island in Alaska to Monterey Bay in central California.

It also consumes carrion, and extends its proboscis to feed on tubeworms inside their tubes or to share the prey being digested by the everted stomach of the ochre sea star.