Strombus gigas (queen conch) 5 (49052107661)

Description:

Description: Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758 - queen conch (apertural view; ~9.0 centimeters across at its widest; apertural lip filed) This species is also known as Eustrombus gigas and Lobatus gigas. The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores. The queen conch, Strombus gigas, is a large gastropod that occupies shallow-water to moderately shallow-water seagrass beds, sandy seafloors, and rubbly seafloors. It occurs in tropical to subtropical areas of the western Atlantic Basin, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. The queen conch shown above is part of the Caribbean Province: "The warm coral waters of the Caribbean stretching from northern Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico and northward adjacent to the Bahamas and Bermuda, contain a fauna of about 800 colorful species of common, shallow-water mollusks. The pink, or queen, conch and the sunrise tellin are typical." [info. from museum signage] Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Strombidae More info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas. Date: 11 November 2019, 18:07. Source: Strombus gigas (queen conch) 5. Author: James St. John.