Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758 - queen conch shell (abapertural view) (specimen housed in the Biologic Repository at Gerace Research Centre, San Salvador Island, Bahamas).
This species is also known as Eustrombus gigas, Lobatus gigas, and Aliger 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.
Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Strombidae
Locality: San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas
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More info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas
