West African Mud Creeper / "Periwinkle"


West African Mud Creeper Shells

[Periwinkle (West Africa); Isam, Nifn (Nigeria); Tympanotonos fuscatus]

From all the photographic evidence I have seen, the West African "Periwinkle" is not a Periwinkle at all, but the West African Mud Creeper. This brackish water snail is very common from Senegal to Camaroon and IUCN listed LC (Least Concern). There are several varieties, so exact shell decoration varies.

All photographic evidence I have seen also shows their flesh to be a very unappetizing blue green color - nonetheless, it is a very popular inclusion in soups and stews, particularly in Nigeria.   Photo by H. Zell distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Unported.

More on Culinary Snails.

Shelled West African Mud Creeper In West African markets, these snails are usually shelled by the vendors, right there in the market. They appear as in the photo to the left, but often more greenish. Given how easily they are scooched out of their shells, I'm pretty sure they have been given a short boil before shelling.   Photo by Samuel H. Eloi used under Fair Use doctrine - small, cropped, educational non-commercial, otherwise unavailable.

Buying:

  These snails are very unlikely to be found in North America, though related Asian Creeper species may be found in the frozen food cases of big Asian markets here in Southern California. they are not blue.

Substitute:

  The most conveniently available substitute is real Periwinkles, which can be found live and as frozen meat in the Asian markets here in Los Angeles, and at affordable prices. Unfortunately for purists, they aren't that horrid blue green color - you'll just have to live without it. For details see our Periwinkles page.

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