Cultural Ecology of the Queen Conch

1. Cultural Ecology of the Queen Conch Strombus gigas (Class Gastropoda)

2. Other Conch Species • Florida Crown • Florida Fighting • Florida Horse • Hawking • Milk • West Indian Crown • West Indian Fighting

3. Anatomy • Shared with other gastropods (stomach-footed) • Reaches 30 cm in length • Mature conch has flared lip • Shell spines help reduce predation • Larger shell • Distributes crushing pressure over surface of shell • Attachment device for epibionts to conceal shell

4. Mr. Slimy

5. Want to Know How the Shell Develops?

6. Talk to Kira

7. Habitat and Feeding Habits • Seagrass beds • Eats grasses, epiphytes and detritus • Have you seen a conch on our dives? • How big?

8. Juveniles • Juveniles bury selves to escape predation, until ≈ 5 cm (Iverson et. al. 1989) • Prime juvenile habitat: • Intermediate density of seagrass (30-80 g dry wt/m2 ) • 2-4 meters • Strong tidal currents • Most seagrass beds cannot support juveniles

9. Reproduction and Life Cycle • Internal fertilization • Metamorphosis from larvae triggered by low molecular weight compounds associated with red algae (Boettcher & Target 1997) • Variations in shell development appear to be influenced more by local environment than genetic variability (Martin-Mora & James 1995)

10. Research • Approximately 230 published papers by 1997 • Publication driven mainly by maricultural concerns • Formal descriptions of larval stage of several Strombus species first appeared in 1993

11. Threats • Over-”harvested” for… • Food • Shell used for jewelry and decoration • Productive areas become “sinks” • Only 5,000-9,000 in Florida • Fishing restrictions • Fishing moratorium in Florida since 1985 (little to no recovery, relies on unpredictable current?) • Bahamas restricted to free diving (unfortunately, juveniles and young adults are in the shallows)

12. Future • Hatcheries producing millions of juveniles, but survival rate very poor compared to wild (Xanthid crabs a major predator of juveniles) • Thinner shells, shorter spines, low burial frequency • Substrate enclosure? (Iverson et. al. 1989) • May need higher density for males and females to detect one another (internal fertilization) • Must begin to take a metapopulation perspective (Stoner 1997:21)

13. An Hypothesis Based on Info from Jyl • Given that a colony of Conch will vacate an area once removed from that colony (Lapachin 1999), and… • That under “natural” conditions there is much less predation of the adult vs. juvenile conch, then… • Perhaps human predation has the double effect of not only removing a single conch, but also reducing survival of others due to energy-loss (= bears in the wild)

14. The Conch in Mesoamerica Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Evidence

15. Early Images • Teotihuacan 0-700 AD • Central Valley of Mexico • An empire’s symbol of control over distant ecological zones

16. Coyote Playing Conch Teotihuacan

17. Xochicalco • Warring City States following the collapse of Teotihuacan • Associated with the rain deity (Tlaloc?) • Symbol of wealth • Acquired by trade rather than conquest

18. Geometric Elaboration Xochicalco

19. The Mexica • Ceremonial uses • cardinal directions • Tlaloque • maintain seasonal balance, duality (Tlaloc/Huitzilopochtli) • Trade and tribute • Protein sources highly prized

20. Conch Sculpture at the Templo Mayor Tenochtitlan

21. Is there anything to learn from Mesoamerican civilizations? • Not just balance in modern sense, but integration of humans & the rest of the “natural” world • Vs. the natural/cultural approach, managed/wild • Sanctions for violating life (human sacrifice), enculturation processes which produce a sense of awe and symbiotic pleasure (Nahua) • No se puede comer La Patria