Queen Conch
By Dakota Albino
Queen Conch
The Queen Conch also known as the Pink Conch, is a marine gastropod mollusk. This means that it is a larger species of vertebrates for example slugs, snails and whleks. The Queen Conch is one of the six species from the category Strombus. It possesses a hard conical outer shell which can be the colours white, cream and tan. It's shell can often grow up to thirty centimetres in length and fourteen centimetres in width. A Queen Conch can live up to thirty years if it's habitat is rich in it's main food resource.
Habitat
The Queen Conch is located throughout the Caribbean. They are commonly found in sand or rubble areas and in seagrass meadows. Adult Queen Conchs are found in deeper reef areas whereas juveniles will tend to live in more shallow seagrass beds. The Queen Conch will live in ranges of three to a hundred feet.
Predator Adaptation
Queen Conches graze the seagrass beds of the Caribbean. They do not eat the seagrass they scrape off the covering algae. This is accomplished by sticking out their sharp and claw-shaped gill cover and securing it in the sand ahead and pulling itself forward with it's muscular feet. Over a night Queen Conchs are able to cover four hundred feet of seagrass. In a Queen Conch's life it will develop a feature that
Prey Adaptation
The Queen conch is the largest in the Conch family and has significantly less predators than juveniles or other species. The Queen Conchs predators are the following, common octopus, Hermit crab, Spiny lobster, Tiger shark and the Eagle ray. For example the Hermit crab will use it's claws to try and separate the animal it from it's shell.
Symbiotic Interactions
Queen Conchs do not have symbiotic interactions with marine life.
Comparison(Cone Snail)
Similarities
Differences
Resources
"What Conchs Eat and Who Eats Conchs." What Conchs Eat and Who Eats Conchs. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2013.
http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Conch%20diet%20and%20predators.htm
Queen Conch (Strombus Gigas) - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries. NOAA, 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2013.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/invertebrates/queenconch.htm
Kennedy, Jennifer. "Seagrasses." About.com Marine Life. About.com, n.d. Web. 29 May 2013.
http://marinelife.about.com/od/habitatprofiles/p/seagrasses.htm