Conch

The shell refers to various marine gastropods with medium or large beaks and beautiful shells. Typical species include the queen conch (Aligner gigas) of the snail family. However, they are also called "real conch". Members of Melongenidae and Fasciolariidae also include species commonly referred to as snails. Its shells are often used as musical instruments, decorations, or other cultural purposes, and its meat is the inspiration for famous dishes in many cultures, especially in the Caribbean. 

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Concha is the common name for many different media to large conch shells, usually large snails with tall needles and obvious siphons on the shell (in other words, the shell reaches a significant point at both extremes). 

Snails are mollusks, a kind of marine snails, they build beautiful shells as a home and a form of defence against predators. The carapace of the queen conch or pink conch is about 6 to 12 inches long. It has 9 to 11 spirals on the protruding needle. In adults, the enlarged lip points outward instead of bending inward, and the last thread has a strong spiral sculpture on its surface. In rare cases, shells can produce conch pearls.

Conchness:

There are over 60 species of sea conch, all of which have medium to large-sized (14 inches) shells. In many species, the shell is elaborate and colourful. All conchs are in the Kingdom: Animalia, the Phylum: Mollusca, and Gastropoda. True conchs like the queen are gastropods in the family Strombidae. The general term "conch" is also applied to other taxonomic families, such as the Melongenidae, which include the melon and crown conchs. 

The conch or the sea snails have highly specialized teeth, known as radulae, their teeth work like a combination hypodermic needle and harpoon to skewer and poison its prey: The conch toxins often target the nervous system, which will lead to paralyzing its victim and allowing the conchness to get over to its meal at its own speed. The sea snail or the conch is regularly regrowing its radulae, which mean that it’s rarely without its deadly harpoon teeth. 

Many marine enthusiasts have often quoted in leading programs that, for species of the sea snail that hunting its prey i.e., the fish it is important to have a very fast-acting and powerful venom because otherwise, fish can easily escape from such a slow-moving predator.

Some sea snails take shelter usually on the rocks and coral reefs, while others hunt by burying themselves in the sand, waiting for innocent prey. The key part of the hunting is the dose of venom in a strike. Few, such as the king cobra or the black mamba, which often recognised for the delivery of a large amount of venom with its large, channelled fangs. At the same time, others animals such as the tiny deathstalker scorpion, only need to command a little poison to kill. It takes nearly 1/10th as much sea snail or venom of the conch to cause the same damage. 

Another important requirement for danger is the animal’s attitude. For a few very venomous snakes such as the inland taipan of northern Australia, some very venomous snakes are considerably less dangerous because they are calm and reclusive. Analogous to the inland taipan of northern Australia, its family, the coastal taipan, has more debilitated venom but when it comes into contact with more people more often so is a much greater danger. 

The conch or the sea snail predatory nature and willingness to strike (it is constantly regrowing its harpoon teeth) bolsters its danger. 

But while these animals are scary, when appropriately harnessed, their venom can be medically useful. Hundreds of the components of the cone snail`s venom are highly toxic to humans, but one of them is incredibly effective as a painkiller. When scientists copied its structure in the lab they found it to be 1000 times more powerful than morphine, and, they think, less addictive.

Queen Conch:

The queen conch (Lobatus gigas) is an invertebrate mollusk that produces what many people consider the iconic shell. This type of shell is generally sold as a souvenir. It is said that if you put the shell (pronounced "konk") on your ear, you can hear the sound of the waves (although you large-sized heart your own pulse). 

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Queen conch The scientific name is Strombus gigas, and it was not changed to Lobatus gigas until 2008 to reflect the current taxonomy. The adult snail has a very heavy shell with a brown horny organic shell (called the periostracum) and a bright pink interior. The shells are strong, thick and very attractive, they are used to make shell tools, which are used as ballast to form jewellery. It is usually sold unmodified as a collectable, and this animal is also caught and sold for its meat. 

Queen Conch Meat is consumed nationwide throughout the Caribbean and exported as gourmet food. Shells and shell jewellery are sold to tourists, and live animals are used in the aquarium trade. Its slow growth, presence in shallow waters and late maturity makes the queen conch particularly vulnerable to overfishing, which is its greatest threat. Habitat degradation, overfishing and the use of SCUBA have led to the capture of previously unexplored populations in deeper waters. 

Queen conch was once found in large numbers in the Florida Keys, but due to the collapse of the conch fishery in the 1970s, it is now illegal to fish for queen conch in the state for commercial or recreational purposes. The United States is responsible for consuming 80% of the queen conch in the world's international trade.

Salient Features of the Conch:

Every animal in nature will exhibit its own kind of features which make them different from the rest of the species. The salient features of the animals let us understand their natural behaviour with certain peculiar characteristics. Here, we will have a look at the physical characteristics of the conch and queen conch, behaviour of the conch (conchness), habitat of the conch, diet of the conch, and finally reproductive system of the conch. Let us have a look at the characteristics of the conch one by one as following:

1. Physical Characteristics of the Conch and Queen Conch:

All sea snails or the conchness (Conches) are sea snails and are very similar to land snails, they have a large, muscular "foot" that is used to move and adhere to the sea floor or "substrate". They are also protected by a hard calcareous shell. The queen conch lives in the Caribbean Sea and can be up to 13.9 inches (35.2 cm) long and weigh up to 5 pounds (2.3 kg), including the shell. They prefer seagrass beds, which are generally found in sandy areas in shallow water. All members of the Strombidae family have a long nose and two peduncles, which are used to detect light and other visual cues. There are additional sensory tentacles that are used to effectively "sniff out" potential food sources, predators, and habitat opportunities. 

2. The Habitat and Distribution of the Conch:

Snail species lives in tropical waters around the world, including the Caribbean Sea, the West Indies, and the Mediterranean. They live in relatively shallow waters, including coral reefs and seagrass habitats. 4,444 queen conch species live in several different habitat types in the Caribbean, Florida and the Gulf Coast, and South America. 

At different depths and aquatic vegetation, their shells have different shapes, different patterns of spines, and different overall lengths and needle shapes. The samba conch is the same species as the queen conch, but compared with the typical queen conch, the samba conch lives in a shallower environment, is much shorter, and has a thick coat and darker periosteum envelope. 

3. The Diet of the Conch:

Snails are herbivores, feeding on algae (plant) material on seagrass beds. They also feed on other decomposing organic matter, such as seaweed or land plants that are washed into the marine environment. Their shells are large, heavy, and very strong. The edge of the opening is widened, and the outer shell is covered with bumps and spinel structures.  

The diet of the queen snail, like most snails in the family, is herbivorous. Larvae and larvae mainly feed on algae and plankton, but as sub-adults grow, they will grow a long snout, allowing them to select and consume larger algae, while larvae feed on seaweed.  

Adult conch shells wander for miles instead of staying in one place. Instead of swimming, they lifted with their feet and then leaned forward. Shells are also good climbers. The average household size of Queen Conch ranges from one-third of an acre to nearly 15 acres. They move within their range at the highest speed during the summer of the breeding season, when males look for mates and females look for habitats to lay eggs. They are social animals and reproduce best in groups. 

4. Predators:

Although their sturdy and thick shells are protected, snails like conchs are still victims of predation by various species. For example, other types of conch are predators, and they use powerful enzymes and drill-like appendages to pierce other types of shells. Snails are common victims of several of these large conchs.  

In addition, various octopuses will attack the snail, using their tentacles and hard beak to pull it out of the shell. Some crustaceans, fish and sea turtles also feed on snails, especially when they are young and their shells are softer and less developed. Finally, the nurse shark also feeds on shells. 

Considering that there are so many predators in the natural environment, it is easy to understand why they have developed such a hard and thick shell to provide maximum protection. In addition to many natural enemies, since recorded history, humans have also harvested snails. This is problematic in some areas, snail species are threatened due to overfishing of these long-lived animals.

5. Reproduction and Development:

The female snail is usually larger than the male. Mating occurs through internal fertilization, and the female will lay eggs throughout the seagrass bed, the eggs are 75 feet (23 meters) long. The size and shape of these egg masses vary depending on environmental conditions, but most females lay 8 to 9 litres of eggs during each breeding season, each containing 180,000460,000 eggs. The 4,444 eggs hatch after four days and the planktonic larvae (called veligers) move with the water for 14 to 60 days. 

After reaching a length of about half an inch, they will sink to the bottom of the sea and hide. There, they hatch into larvae, growing to about 4 inches long. Eventually, they enter the nearby seagrass bed, where they gather in clusters and remain until sexual maturity. This happens around 3.5 years of age when they reach their maximum length in adulthood and the outer lips are at least 0.3-0.4 inches thick.  

After 35 days, the embryo will be born. These little animals are translucent with some cream-coloured markings. They will eventually join plankton—plants and animals that emerge on a whim in ocean currents—until they metamorphose at about 1640 days old. Since then, sea snails spend their entire lives as benthic animals, which means that they are always attached to the surface of the water at the bottom instead of floating or swimming in the water column. 

After some time when the adult queen conch matures, the length of the shell stops growing, but the width continues to grow, and its outer edge begins to expand. The animal itself stopped growing, except for its sexual organs, and its size continued to increase. The lifespan of the queen conch is about 30 years.

Humans not only use snail shells as tools, etc., they are also popular with other animals that like to use snail shells. Snails form a symbiotic relationship with various animals, and animals live together effectively in this relationship. In this case, the conch provides a sanctuary-its protective shell.  

Snail shells are often home to many species, including slipper snails and porcelain crabs, and a fish called the snail (Astrapogon status). These animals will settle in large shells and use them to protect themselves from predators and harsh conditions. Once the shell dies and is left for others to use, some species will also use the shell as "shelter." 

Conclusion:

In North America, the conch is generally considered the queen conch, native to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean waters. The Queen conch is very valuable as shellfish and is also used as bait.

The conch group sometimes referred to as "true concha" is a marine gastropod mollusc of the Conch family, especially the snail and other closely related genera. For example, Lobatus gigas, Queen Conch, and Laevistrombus canarium, Dog Conch, are true shells. 

Many other species are often referred to as "sea snails" but are not closely related to the Strombidae family at all, including the Melongena species (family Melongenidae) and the snail Triplofusus papillosus (family Fasciolariidae). The species are commonly known as snail also includes the sacred chank or shankha shell (Turbinella Hyrum) and other Turbinella species in the family Turbinellidae. Triton's trumpet (family Charoniidae) can also turn into a horn, called a snail. 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has not yet assessed the status of the snail. But the snail is edible, and in many cases, the snail is overfished for souvenir meat and shells. In the 1990s, the queen conch was included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to regulate international trade. 

The meat of the Queen’s Conch is also collected in other parts of the Caribbean that are not yet endangered. Most of this meat is sold to the United States. Live snails and horse conch are also sold for use in aquariums.