The Queen Conch

1. The Queen Conch Aquaculture Profile

2. Queen Conch Taxonomy • Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) • Phylum: Mollusca (Mollusks) • Class: Gastropoda (Gastropods) • Order: Mesogastropoda (Sea Snails) • Family: Strombidae (True Conchs) • Scientific Name: Strombusgigas (lit. Giant Conch) • Known as Caracola Reina in Spanish, StrombeGéant in French, RozeVleugelhoorn in Dutch, and Concha-rainha in Portuguese

3. Importance of the Queen Conch Native to the Gulf of Mexico and and Caribbean Sea, the queen conch has been an important subsistence to food to the peoples of the area, due to its relative abundance and easiness to capture. Unfortunately, overfishing has led to a decrease in the wild population for queen conchs, and many fisheries in the Caribbean are being exploited at an unsustainable rate in spite of laws that prevent overfishing and export

4. Uses of the Queen Conch Queen conch meet is removed from the shell and can be dried or used fresh to traditionally make salads, chowder, or delicious fritters Queen conchs are also prized for their shells, which are used for decoration, jewelry, or in olden time, as ballast in sailing ships. A Queen conch can go anywhere between 3 and 20 dollars in local markets in 38 countries

5. Life Cycle of the Queen Conch • Adults are sexually mature at the age of 4 and breed in large groups. Females lay a crescent shaped egg mass of nearly 400,000 eggs • Eggs hatch after 3-5 days. • Newly hatched veliger floats in the water column and feeds on microalgae • After 30 days and when 1 mm in size, juvenile settles to the benthos, where it will be buried by sand • For the next year or two, the juvenile lives buried in sand feeding on bacteria using a proboscis • Emerges from the sand and ventures into deeper water, feeding off of seaweed.

7. Reproduction in Captivity • Queen conchs are reproduced at egg farms, an enclosed mesh cage in coastal areas queen conch are known to breed, from July to September, when water temperatures are highest • Queen conchs are transported to the farms. An equal number of males and females are placed in the farm at a density of 1 conch per 100 ft2. • Queen conchs are left to breed, and the egg masses are removed from underneath the female about a day after it breeds.

8. Hatchery Production Methods

9. Metamorphosis Production Methods

10. Nursery Production Methods

11. Grow-out Production Methods • Once conchs reach 7 cm in length, they are grown out in sea pastures (or ranches), which are mesh fences or cages placed in coastal areas. • Mesh should be small enough to prevent inclusion of predators and escape of juveniles. • Conchs are placed in a slightly higher density than nature with one conch per ft2 • Sea grass should be found in a density of around 75 stalks per ft2 • Water should be at a depth between 7 and 13 feet, with strong tides to flush the area of waste • Conchs may need to be manually moved around the enclosure to prevent over grazing.

12. Feeding the Queen Conch During the grow-out stage, queen conch diet consists of natural sea grass, such as Thalassia. It’s diet may need to be supplemented with a mixture of koi or catfish pellets, dried Ulva, and algae. A ground, gel form of the above feed is also used to feed veligers and juveniles. They are generally fed at a ratio of 1.5:1.

13. Queen Conch Aquaculture Advantages Disadvantages Difficult to breed in captivity. Several different apparatuses are needed to raise the queen conch through its life stages. Aquaculture is low density and cannot support densities significantly higher than wild fisheries. • Aquaculture requires little management. Labor is only required in rotating conchs and harvesting stocks. • Most cages do not require to be fed, and then only as a supplement to natural food source • There is a commercial demand for the species, as fisheries are depleting and are increasingly used only for subsistence purposes

14. In Conclusion The “Magical” Queen Conch