Queen Conch

Aliger gigas · Mollusc

Queen Conch
Living queen conch on the sand · Daniel Neal from Sacramento, CA, US, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the largest molluscs of the Caribbean, a sea snail whose heavy shell, up to 35 cm long, has knobbed shoulders, a flared lip and a pink or orange mouth. It grazes algae and seagrass on the sandy plains and seagrass meadows by the coral reefs, from the shallows down to about 35 m, in gatherings that can number several thousand. Its meat, called lambí, has been part of the diet of the West Indies for centuries, raw or in salads, chowders and fritters; the Taíno, Carib and Arawak made knives, axe heads, jewellery and horns from its shell, and about one conch in 10,000 holds a pearl, the pink ones the most valued. Overfishing has emptied it from many places.

Danger
Harmless
How it is met
In colonies, day and night
Size
Small
In winter
Active in winter

Where it lives

Coastal Shelf, Coral Reef

Gives

Conch Meat, Queen Conch Shell

Sources

Open it in Biomes — MGS Toolbox