U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, International Affairs

Cool Queen Conch Facts

• 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 five 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 six to eight 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 may be produced at a rate of five feet per hour.
• Embryos emerge after four to six 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 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!

Sources: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission American Museum of Natural History

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