Queen Conch

About the Species

U.S. wild-caught queen conch is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed under a rebuilding plan that allows limited harvest by U.S. fishermen.

In December 2019, NOAA Fisheries initiated a status review of this species under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more about the queen conch as a candidate species under the ESA.

Appearance

• Queen conch have a large, conical shell that typically ranges in size from 6 to 9 inches, but can reach a maximum size of 12 inches.
• The shell has blunt spikes and is typically orange, but often looks gray because it’s covered in algae and debris. The inside of the lip ranges from bright orange to pink.
• Queen conch have long eye stalks and a large, tube-like mouth (proboscis) that it can pull into its shell if threatened.
• As older juveniles mature, they develop a large lip on their shell that continues to thicken as the animal ages.

Biology

• Queen conch can live a long time, up to 30 years.
• They grow up to 12 inches in length and can weigh up to 5 pounds.
• They are able to reproduce when they reach 3 to 4 years old, when they develop their flared lip.
• Queen conch spawns from spring through the summer, in shallower water areas with clean coral sand. Both males and females mate with multiple individuals, and eggs are fertilized internally.
• Females lay long egg masses containing hundreds of thousands of eggs on patches of bare sand or occasionally seagrass. Eggs hatch after about 72 hours.
• Larval conch feed on plankton before settling to the ocean bottom. Adults feed on algae, incidentally ingesting bits of seagrass, macroalgae, sediment, and small bottom-dwelling animals in the process.
• Crabs, turtles, sharks, and rays feed on queen conch. 

Where They Live

• Queen conch are found throughout the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico, south Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Mollusca
Class	Gastropoda
Order	Littorinimorpha
Family	Strombidae
Genus	Strombus
Species	gigas