A
slow-moving but long-lived marinesnail, the queen conch (pronounced“konk”) has become an abidingsymbol of the relaxed pace of life in theFlorida Keys—where the localsaffectionately refer to themselves as“conchs.” Long harvested for its tasty meatand beautiful shell, the queen conch isnow protected from harvest and effortsare being directed toward replenishingnative populations.
Description
The queen conch is actually a soft-bodied mollusk encasedin a large, flared shell. Indeed, its scientific name
Strombus gigas
means “giant spiral shell.”Like all snails, the queen conch has a single foot withwhich it propels itself. In most marine snails, this foot isbroad and sturdy, enabling the animal to glide along theocean bottom smoothly. But the foot of the queen conchis narrow and ends in a large, tough plate or “claw,”called an operculum. When the conch wants to moveforward, it plants the operculum on the bottom andpushes off like a pole vaulter, resulting in a jerky, lurchingmotion that one author has described as “a series ofgrotesque leaps and tumblings.” Besides propelling theconch forward, this ungainly appendage is also useful inseveral other ways. By pulling the operculum tightly intothe shell opening, the conch uses it as adefense against predators trying to pryopen the conch’s shell. The foot alsoserves as a lever for righting the conchwhen its shell is tipped upside down or toone side, and it is the foot that containsthe sweet white meat that is used to makeconch fritters, conch chowder, and otherculinary delights.The conch is an invertebrate with asoft body, which consists of the black-speckled foot; two slender, sensitive tentacles; a “head”with bright yellow eyes perched on the end of twoprotruding stalks; and a snout-like mouth (proboscis),which the conch extends to graze on algae-covered rocksor corals. Enclosing the foot and head is a snug, orangeor yellow fleshy covering called the mantle, which secretesthe shell and also houses the feathery gills that allow theconch to siphon oxygen from the water.The eyes of the queen conch are more highlydeveloped than those of most other snails, giving it a keen,intelligent appearance. Its excellent eyesight is
Scientific name
Strombus gigas
Size
To 12 inches, 5 pounds
Range
Florida Keys north to St. Lucie Inlet on the east coast
Habitat
Sandy and hard bottoms and coral rubble; occasionally in seagrass beds
Status
Listed as a protected species in Florida; harvest prohibited in federal andstate waters
QUEENCONCH
Florida’sSpectacular Sea Snail
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionFish and Wildlife Research Institute
The queen conch advances about half its body length with each “leap” on its claw-tipped foot.
supplemented by its tentacles, which are also used to feeland taste the water.The blood of the queen conch is a colorless liquidcalled hemocyanin, which contains copper. It is similarto the iron-containing hemoglobin in vertebrate animals.In the process of respiration, oxygen turns the hemocyaninblue—making queen conchs true “bluebloods” of theanimal kingdom.The queen conch’s shell is its most striking feature.Adults have a heavy shell with a broad, flared lip that isa glossy pink, orange, or yellow on the interior. Theoutside of the shell is marked by a blunt crown of spinesthat project from each whorl of the spiral. Queen conchsare “right-handed,” meaning that as the observer looksat the pointed crown, the spiral coils to the right. Abrown, papery layer called the periostracum covers theshell and collects silt, bacteria, and algae, which help todisguise the animal. The periostracum flakes off when theshell is removed from the water and dried.A queen conch shell can be as long as 12 inches andweigh as much as 5 pounds. In Bermuda, queen conchsmay live 40 years, but in Florida their life span is estimatedat 7 to 15 years.Queen conchs are among the largest gastropods (orsnail-like animals) in the sea. Females are slightly largerthan males of the same age, but both may increase theirshell length by as much as three inches a year during theiractive growing stage. After the animal attains sexualmaturity, its shell continues to thicken, but its lengthwisegrowth stops.
Range and Habitat
The queen conch is found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, andthroughout the entire Caribbean. Of the 55 species ofconchs worldwide, six occur in Caribbean and Floridawaters. Conchs are usually found in warm, shallow waters.Although they have been found in waters 500 feet deep,they are most abundant in waters ranging from 1 to 70feet deep. Despite their painstakingly slow speed, conchsmay wander for miles foraging on algae-encrusted rocksor decaying organic matter.In Florida, queen conchs are most abundant in theFlorida Keys but are occasionally found as far north asSt. Lucie Inlet on the east coast. Adults are found mostoften in coral rubble and in hard-bottom communities ofsoft corals and sponges, but they may also take upresidence on sandy bottoms and in seagrass beds. FromApril to October, adult conchs gather to spawn offshore
2
Tagging studies in Florida show that queen conchmay travel up to 100 yards in two weeks and have home ranges of up to 150 acres.
Adult female conch without her shell
Art after B. D. Egan, 1985. MS thesis,University of British Columbia.
3
in large colonies of up to 10,000 individuals.The large shell of the queen conch accommodates avariety of other creatures. Pink cardinal fish (conch fish)often take up residence within this spacious “mobile”home, and slipper limpets—a type of snail—attachthemselves to the shell’s exterior. A small crab can alsofind comfortable living quarters when wedged between theshell and the conch’s foot.
Life History
Conchs begin life as creatures so small they can be seenonly with a microscope. These larvae, or “veligers,” bearno resemblance to the final product. A veliger has twowing-like lobes covered with bristly stubble called cilia—which help it swim and direct food to its mouth—and atiny, transparent shell that willeventually become the familiarcurved adornment of themature queen conch. Thelarvae grow new lobes as theymature. By the fourth day oflife, the veliger has four ofthese lobes; by the end of itsfirst week, it has six.Veligers spend the first 21days of their existence drifting and swimming in theocean currents, feeding on tiny, one-celled plants calledphytoplankton. Then they settle to the sea floor, the lobesdisappear, and the “foot” and snout-like mouth develop.Within a month, the animal begins to take on theappearance of an adult conch in miniature as it adds toits shell by secreting liquid calcium carbonate that quicklyhardens into crystals. Conchs measure about three inchesin length at one year of age and about six inches by thesecond year. These young conchs are called “rollers”because their shells do not yet have the stable, flaring lipof adults. They feed on the algae and decaying plantmatter that clings to seagrass blades.When the juvenile’s shell is about 9.5 to 12 incheslong, the lip forms and the shell stops growing in size andlength. Instead, the conch directs its energy tostrengthening the shell and lip, so that the shell becomesthicker and heavier while the animal inside actuallybecomes smaller. This process usually occurs, particularlyin offshore groups, during the third year. However, somenearshore conch populations in Florida develop the flaredlip in their second year. The animal reaches sexualmaturity only after the lip is well developed.Queen conchs typically mate in the summer or earlyfall in shallow, sandy areas behind the reefs. Duringmating, the male sits behind the female and depositssperm into the female. The female may retain the spermfor several weeks, and fertilization is internal. Somefemales may spawn six to eight times during eachspawning season.The egg cases are released as a mass of tightly woundgelatinous tubes that contain about 400,000 embryos.From 70 to more than 120 feet of tube strands may beproduced at a rate of about 5 feet per hour.After four to five days, the embryos emerge from theegg cases as larval veligers and may be carried greatdistances by currents before settling to the ocean floor andbeginning their conch development in earnest. Very fewwill survive to adulthood. Veligers are eaten by othersmall, swimming creatures, and the fragile shells ofjuvenile conchs make them easy prey for crabs, sharks,rays, groupers, and tulip shells. Spiny lobsters andporcupine, or puffer, fish are among a juvenile conch’sgreatest threats. Once the conch reaches adulthood,however, few animals can prey upon it, although adultsmay still be eaten by loggerhead sea turtles and horseconchs—as well as by humans.
Economic Importance
Queen conchs have been part of the human diet forcenturies. Prehistoric Indians who lived in south Florida3,000 years ago ate conch meat and used the shells tomake cooking utensils and pots, as well as necklaces,pendants, earrings, and buttons. Intact shells alsofunctioned as ceremonial items and trumpets, a use thatstill finds a following today among islanders with apenchant for unusual musical instruments.English explorers took conch shells home with them,and the shells quickly became a coveted novelty. By the17th century, pink conch shells adorned nearly everyfireplace mantel and were used as decorative edging inEnglish gardens. The shells were also carved into cameosand were ground to make a high-quality porcelain. In more
Egg massSection of egg strandVeliger larva
about 6 inches long
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Sea Stats - Queen Conch
A slow-moving but long-lived marine snail, the queen conch has become an abiding symbol of the relaxed pace of life in the Florida Keys—where the human natives affectionately refer to themselves as "conchs."
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