Strombus gigas

Taxobox
name = "Strombus gigas"

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = An adult Queen Conch shell, "Strombus gigas". The edge of the lip of this shell is not completely natural; it has been filed by the original seller in order to give the shell a neater appearance
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
subclassis = Orthogastropoda
superordo = Caenogastropoda
ordo = Sorbeoconcha
subordo = Hypsogastropoda
infraordo = Littorinimorpha
superfamilia = Stromboidea
familia = Strombidae
genus = "Strombus"
species = "S. gigas"
binomial = "Strombus gigas"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1754

"Strombus gigas" Linnaeus, 1758, now known as "Eustrombus gigas", is a species of very large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. This species is not yet endangered, but it is threatened in many areas by extreme overfishing.

"S. gigas" is a true conch, and it is one of the largest mollusks native to the tropical zone of the Western Atlantic Ocean, from Bermuda to Brazil.

Common names for "S. gigas" include: the queen conch, pink conch, caracol reina, caracol rosa, caracol rosado, caracol de pala, cobo, botuto, guarura, and lambí.

Distribution

"S. gigas" lives in the greater Caribbean tropical zone which includes: Mexico, southern Florida, and the Bahamas, north to Bermuda.

Habitat

This large sea snail lives in seagrass meadows and on sandy substrate, where it grazes on detritus, macroalgae, and epiphytes.

hell description

The adult shell is from 15-31 cm (6-12 inches) in length, and has a widely flaring and thickened lip. The glossy finish around the aperture of the adult shell is colored primarily in shades of pink. The pink glaze is sometimes pale, and may sometimes show some cream, peach, and yellow coloration, but it also can sometimes be tinged with a deep magenta, shading almost to red.

In contrast, the juvenile shells are a mottled brown and white color when small, and have a sharp lip with no flare at all. In Florida the juveniles are known as "rollers", because wave action very easily rolls these shells, whereas it is nearly impossible to roll the adult shell of this species. The subadult shell has a flared lip which is very thin; the adult lip grows thicker and thicker the longer the adult conch survives.

Life habits

The female lays between 180,000 and 460,000 eggs. A small cardinal fish, known as the conch fish, sometimes lives in the mantle of the conch for protection. Very rarely, a conch pearl is found within the mantle of the animal.

Human use

As food

Conch meat has traditionally been an important part of the diet in many islands in the West Indies. In the Spanish-speaking regions, for example in the Dominican Republic, "Strombus gigas" meat is known as "Lambí".

Overfishing of this species is a now a very serious concern throughout most of it its range. Only the adult conch is capable of reproduction. Unfortunately there is almost as much meat in a very large juvenile as there is in an adult, and so, wherever the adults have become rare, conch fisherman will instead harvest the larger juveniles before the conchs have reached sexual maturity and had a chance to reproduce. Since these days the meat is taken out of the shell while the fisherman is still out at sea, and the empty shells are dumped overboard, it is hard to enforce rules that require a fisherman to take only adult conchs.

On many islands, despite local regulations to the contrary, immature conchs form the vast majority of the harvest. If this continues unabated, eventually the populations of this species will crash, and will very likely be unable to recover. The Caribbean "International Queen Conch Initiative" is an attempt at a fisheries management scheme for this species, and has its own website [http://www.strombusgigas.com] .

As decorative objects

The importation of "Strombus gigas" shells into the USA is illegal under the CITES agreement, and thus any shell brought into the country will be seized and impounded by the US customs officers. [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/intlagree/cites.htm]

For jewelry

The most attractive of the conch pearls from this species have considerable value as gemstones. [http://www.khulsey.com/jewelry/organic_gems_conch-pearl.html]

Historical human use

Classic Mayan art depicts what appears to be the shell of "S. gigas" being worn on the hands of boxers.

The south Florida Indians (such as the Tequesta) and Carib Indians used to make knives, ax heads, and chisels out of the lip of the conch before they acquired metal.

References

* Wildlife Fact File, 1996, Card #46 (pink conch)
* The entry for this species on the Western Atlantic mollusk database, Malacolog: [http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=2204]

External links

*ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/invertebrates_marine/Strombus_gigas/ images and movies of the queen conch "(Strombus gigas)"]
* [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Strombus_gigas.html Animal Diversity Web: "Strombus gigas"]
* [http://www.stanford.edu/group/microdocs/ Microdocs] : [http://www.stanford.edu/group/microdocs/conch.html Life cycle of the conch]