- The queen conch (Strombus gigas) is a marine snail or gastropod
(Latin for belly-foot).
- The heavy shell, formed by the buildup of calcium carbonate, is glossy
pink, orange, or yellow on its interior and reaches its full size at
around 3 years of age. It then starts to form a “lip” that
flares away from the shell.The shell continues to thicken throughout
the conch’s life.
- Queen conch are “right-handed.” Looking at the pointed
crown, the spiral shell coils to the right.
- They can grow to 12 inches and 5 pounds and reach sexual maturity
in about 3 to 5 years.
- Queen conch can live 40 years, but the normal life span is estimated
at between 20 and 30 years.
- Conch range throughout the Caribbean in warm waters varying in depths
from 1 to 70 feet although they have been found at depths of 500 feet.
They are common on sand flats in beds of turtle grass and manatee grass.
- Conch may wander for miles foraging on algae, sea grasses, sand, and
dead material. Tagging studies show that queen conch may travel up to
1 mile in a 2-month period and more than 700 yards in a week.
- Queen conch blood contains hemocyanin, a copper containing molecule.
When the hemocyanin interacts with oxygen during the process of respiration,
it turns blue making queen conch “bluebloods.”
- Queen conch mate in summer and early fall in shallow, sandy areas behind
reefs. During mating, the male sits behind the female and deposits sperm
into the female, who may retain the sperm for several weeks. Fertilization
is internal. Females may spawn 6 to 8 times during each spawning
season.
- Egg cases are gelatinous tubes that can contain as many as 400,000
embryos. Tube strands of from 70 to 120 feet in length may be produced at a rate
of five feet per hour.
- Embryos emerge after 4to 6 days as larval veligers traveling
great distances among sea currents for the first few weeks. They start
their development after settling to the ocean floor. Few survive to adulthood,
instead becoming food for many other ocean organisms.
- Adult queen conch are eaten by loggerhead sea turtles, horse conch,
and humans.
- The edible meat comes from the single, long foot common to all snails.
- Color
your own conch!
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