Strombus gigas
pink or queen conch
(Also: queen conch)

Bahamas, Venezeula, St. Croix, British

West Indies, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, southeast Florida, southern Mexico, and Brazil.

Adults settle in shallow, subtidal habitats where they spend much of their first year buried in sediment. As they age, they move to increasingly deeper waters. Some populations also change habitats seasonally, shifting away from shore towards open sand or algae in November and returning to inland grass beds in February.

Queen conchs live in warm semi-tropical and tropical waters.

Queen conch shells are large,up to 30 cm. in length. They have a large, flaring lip colored rich pink, orange, and yellow. The shell is coated with a moderately thick and horny periostracum, which flakes off dried specimens.

Conchs migrate seasonally from offshore feeding areas in the winter to shallower summer habitats. Queen conchs bury into the sand for short 'dormancy' periods during winter storms, and also to hide from predators. Their larvae live a planktonic life. Adult queen conchs glide vertically by pedal muscular waves and they also adhere to substrates.

They can also move by a shell thrusting motion known as 'hopping' or 'leaping', making use of their strong muscular foot.

Adults are most active at night, and can travel up to 100 yards a day/night.

Conchs graze, primarily feeding on algae, and as larvae they eat plankton. Feeding has been observed on hard bottomed habitats and in rubble. Foraminiferans, bryozoans, and small bivalves and gastropods have also been found in conch stomachs but were probably ingested accidentally while grazing.

Queen conchs are highly valued as a nutritious and cheap food source in the West Indies and the Caribbean. They are used, for example, for chowder and salads. They are also collected for their shells in shallow, inshore waters by divers; this contributes to their decreasing numbers. Their beautiful pinkish shells are sold as souvenirs.

Queen conchs have been utilized by man since prehistoric times--for food, pottery, tools, dishes, adornment and for fish hooks. Their numbers are declining now more than ever. In the Bahamas, for example, it is believed that deep water populations sustain the smaller shallow water populations. Queen conchs are not yet an endangered species, yet the industry based on fishing for them is endangered and they are listed on Appendix II of CITES, meaning that their trade is subject to quotas. Some type of management needs to be implemented in the Caribbean, for example, to prevent the rapid disappearance of these animals.

The slow moving nature of the conchs, their pinkish-rose shells, and their frequency in shallow waters make them an easy target for fisherman.

The family Strombidae is mainly extinct, surviving for the most part in the W.Indian region and the Indo-Pacific.

Longevity is at least 6 to 7 years, and is perhaps as long as 26 years in deep water habitats. Predators to the queen conch include crabs, turtles, sharks, rays, and man.