Nature and Environment Education - SCHOOL PROGRAMS - QUEEN CONCH

The Queen Conch or Pink Conch (pronounced "konk") is a mollusk whose scientific name - Strombus gigas - means "giant spiral shell". Fossils indicate that the conch first appeared about sixty-five million years ago. Archaeological evidence shows the shell was used 3,000 years ago for cooking pots, chisels, knives, scrapers, hooks, earrings, buttons and pendants.

Queen Conchs will usually mate in shallow waters in sandy areas behind coral reefs. The female lays egg masses with about half a million embryos. It takes about five days for the embryos to leave the eggs and travel to the surface. At this stage, they are called veligers and drift in the ocean for about 3 weeks. Later, at about the size of a grain of sand, they lose their swimming ability and settle to the bottom. By this time, they have developed a tiny transparent shell called protoconch with a foot and a mouth. They reach a shell length of close to 3 inches after 1 year and 5 inches after 2 years.

Unfortunately, very few of the original half a million embryos reach this stage. After 3 years the conch is finally mature with approximately 2 lbs. in weight and a length of close to 8 inches. The shell length will increase at an average rate of three inches per year in its active growing stage. The average life span is about 6 to 10 years.

The Queen Conch lives in warm shallow waters throughout the Caribbean. During the daytime they are usually buried in the sand and come out to feed at night on algae and sea grass.

They were once fished from dinghies by scanning the bottom with glass-bottom buckets and retrieved with hooked poles. Now they are caught with SCUBA gear. Cleaning involves knocking a hole in the spire and cutting the animal free with a knife.

As a food source, the conch has a great nutritional value and is a very high source of protein. It is also a natural aphrodisiac. The well-developed foot muscle of the conch is what provides the sweet white meat used in so many recipes. Although the conch may be served in many different ways the most popular are conch fritters, chowder, salad and cracked conch.

The Queen Conch is so popular, and has been harvested to such an extent, that they have become an endangered species in Florida. Worldwide steps are being taken to ensure the availability and longevity of the species by assigning quotas to all the conch-producing countries, and having a closed season for harvesting. Also a very positive step was taken several years back with the farming of Conch in the Caribbean.

The Queen Conch or Pink Conch (Strombus gigas, named by Linnaeus in 1758) is a gastropod, a soft-bodied type of mollusk that is protected by a very hard shell. This invertebrate (animal without a backbone) is found in warm shallow waters in grass beds of the Caribbean Sea.
Many animals, including rays and people, eat conchs. People also collect the beautiful shell; which is used for jewelry and for conch trumpets. The Queen Conch is a relatively slow-growing animal.

The shell: The Queen Conch has a large, spiral shell often lined in pink. The conch's mantle, a thin layer of tissue located between the body and the shell, creates the shell. The conch builds the hard shell from calcium carbonate that it extracts from the seas. The shell is up to 1 foot (30 cm) long. The lip of the shell is flared and there are spines to deter its many predators.

Anatomy: The body is divided into the head, the visceral mass, and the foot (which is small). The conch has two pairs of tentacles on the head; it has a light-sensitive eyespot located on each of the larger tentacles. The smaller pair of tentacles is used for the sense of smell and the sense of touch. The small operculum (which is like a trap door) is located on the foot and looks a bit like (and works like) a claw. Young conchs are able to bury themselves in the sand when they are in danger.

Diet: Conchs eat grasses, algae, and floating organic debris. They eat using a radula, a rough tongue-like organ that has thousands of tiny denticles (tooth-like protrusions).