One Pink Conch shell with Slit Back measuring 6 to 8 inches ****

One Pink Conch shell with Slit Back measuring 6 to 8 inches

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Conch is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal. The shell comes to a noticeable point on both ends.

Aliger gigas, originally known as Strombus gigas, Common names include queen conch and pink conch.

(REF: Walters, Martin; Johnson, Jinny (2003). Encyclopedia of Animals. Marks and Spencer. )

The mature conch shell grows to 6 to 12 inches in length in three to five years while the maximum reported size is about 14 inches. While growing the thickness of the shell is constantly increasing. The shell is very solid and heavy, with 9 to 11 whorls and a widely flaring and thickened outer lip. The thickness of the shell provides protection. When the shell size reaches its maximum, the outside shell gradually thickens.

The spire is a protruding part of the shell that includes all of the whorls except the largest and final whorl (known as the body whorl). It is usually more elongated than in other strombid snails, such as the closely related and larger goliath conch, Lobatus goliath that is endemic to Brazil. In A. gigas, the glossy finish or glaze around the aperture of the adult shell is primarily in pale shades of pink. It may show a cream, peach or yellow coloration, but it can also sometimes be tinged with a deep magenta, shading almost to red. The periostracum, a layer of protein (conchiolin) that is the outermost part of the shell surface, is thin and a pale brown or tan color.

A. gigas is not solely determined by the animal's genes; environmental conditions such as location, diet, temperature and depth, and biological interactions such as predation, can greatly affect it. Juvenile conches develop heavier shells when exposed to predators. Conches also develop wider and thicker shells with fewer but longer spines in deeper water.

The shells of juvenile queen conches are different in appearance from those of the adults. There is a complete absence of a flared outer lip; juvenile shells have a simple sharp lip, which gives the shell a conical or biconic outline. In Florida, juvenile queen conches are known as rollers, because wave action very easily rolls their shells, whereas it is nearly impossible to roll an adult specimen, due to the shell's weight and asymmetric profile. Subadult shells have a thin flared lip that continues to increase in thickness until death.

Conch shells are about 95% calcium carbonate and 5% organic matter.

Aliger gigas is gonochoristic, which means each individual snail is either distinctly male or distinctly female. Females are usually larger than males in natural populations, with both sexes existing in similar proportion. After internal fertilization, the females lay eggs in gelatinous strings, which can be as long as 75 feet. These are layered on patches of bare sand or seagrass. The sticky surface of these long egg strings allows them to coil and agglutinate (firmly stick or be stuck together to form a mass), mixing with the surrounding sand to form compact egg masses, the shape of which is defined by the anterior portion of the outer lip of the female's shell while they are layered. Each one of the egg masses may have been fertilized by multiple males. The number of eggs per egg mass varies greatly depending on environmental conditions such as food availability and temperature. Females generally produce 8–9 egg masses per season, each containing 180,000–460,000 eggs, but numbers can be as high as 750,000 eggs. A. gigas females may spawn multiple times during the reproductive season, which lasts from March to October, with activity peaks occurring from July to September.

Queen conch embryos hatch 3–5 days after spawning. At the moment of hatching, the protoconch (embryonic shell) is translucent and has a creamy, off-white background color with small, pustulate markings. This coloration is different from other Caribbean Lobatus, such as Lobatus raninus and Lobatus costatus, which have unpigmented embryonic shells. Afterwards, the emerging two-lobed veliger (a larval form common to various marine and fresh-water gastropod and bivalve mollusks) spend several days developing in the plankton, feeding primarily on phytoplankton. Metamorphosis occurs some 16–40 days from the hatching, when the fully grown protoconch is about 1/2 inch high. After the metamorphosis, A. gigas individuals spend the rest of their lives in the benthic zone (on or in the sediment surface), usually remaining buried during their first year of life. The queen conch reaches sexual maturity at approximately 3 to 4 years of age, reaching a shell length of nearly 8 inches and weighing up to 5 pounds. Individuals may live up to 7 years, though in deeper waters their lifespan may reach 20–30 years[ and maximum lifetime estimates reach 40 years. It is believed that the mortality rate tends to be lower in matured conchs due to their thickened shell, but it could be substantially higher for juveniles. Estimates have demonstrated that its mortality rate decreases as its size increases and can also vary due to habitat, season and other factors.

Aliger gigas (pink conch)is native to the tropical Western Atlantic coasts of North and Central America in the greater Caribbean tropical zone.

Aliger gigas lives at depths from 1 to 135 feet. Its depth range is limited by the distribution of seagrass and algae cover. In heavily exploited areas, the queen conch is more abundant in the deepest range. The queen conch lives in seagrass meadows and on sandy substrates.

Aliger gigas is a specialized herbivore, that feeds on macroalgae (including red algae, such as species of Gracilaria and Hypnea) seagrass and unicellular algae, they also feeding on algal detritus. The green macroalgae Batophora oerstedii is one of its preferred foods.

Pink (queen) conch populations have been rapidly declining throughout the years and have been mostly depleted in some areas in the Caribbean due to the fact that they are highly sought after for their meat and their value.

Presently, ocean acidification is a serious threat to the queen conch. Acidity levels are rising and adversely affecting shellfish larvae. Rising atmospheric CO2 levels result in rising levels of carbonic acid in seawater, which is particularly harmful to organisms with calcium carbonate shells and structures. Certain larval stages of shellfish are very sensitive to lower seawater pH.

In 2022, the US NOAA conducted a review of populations throughout its range; the study places it at a moderate risk of extinction over the next 30 years. The study also requested, and received comments from management agencies, nations and associations throughout the Caribbean regarding the status of the species, and implications of listing the species as Threatened under the US Endangered Species Act.

Sharp edges on the conch shells have been blunted before shipping, for safety reasons

Scientific classification

Scientific classificationEdit this classification

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Subclass: Caenogastropoda

Order: Littorinimorpha

Family: Strombidae

Genus: Aliger

Species: A. gigas

Binomial name: Aliger gigas

(Linnaeus, 1758)

(REF: Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae, 10th ed., vol. 1. 824 pp. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae (Stockholm, Sweden).) (REF: Smith, M. (1940). World Wide Seashells: illustrations, geographical range and other data covering more than sixteen hundred species and sub-species of molluscs (1 ed.). Lantana, Florida: Tropical Photographic Laboratory.)(REF: Acosta, Charles C. (2006). "Impending Trade Suspensions of Caribbean Queen Conch under CITES: A Case Study on Fishery Impacts and Potential for Stock Recovery" (PDF). Fisheries. 32 (12)(REF: Maxwell, S.J.; Dekkers, A.M.; Rymer, T.L.; Congdon, B.C. (2020). "Towards resolving the American and West African Strombidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neostromboidae) using integrated taxonomy". The Festivus. 52)(REF: Welch, J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence")(REF: Tewfik, A. (1991)."An assessment of the biological characteristics, abundance, and potential yield of the queen conch (Strombus gigas L.) fishery on the Pedro Bank off Jamaica". Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science (Biology). Acadia University, Canada.)(REF: Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (2006). "Queen conch: Florida's spectacular sea snail". Sea Stats. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011.)(REF:Robertson, R. (1959). "Observations on the spawn and veligers of conchs (Strombus) in the Bahamas". Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 33 (4) )(REF: "International Queen Conch Initiative". NOAA: Caribbean Fishery Management Council. Retrieved 27 September 2009.)(REF: Robertson, R. (1961). "The feeding of Strombus and related herbivorous marine gastropods". Notulae Naturae of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (343)(REF: Stoner, Allan W.; Davis, Martha H.; Kough, Andrew S. (2019). "Relationships between Fishing Pressure and Stock Structure in Queen Conch (Lobatus gigas) Populations: Synthesis of Long-Term Surveys and Evidence for Overfishing in The Bahamas". Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture. 27)(REF: "Standing Committee Recommendations". CITES Official Documents No 2003/057. 2003. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2010.)