Lobatus gigas

Lobatus gigas, commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large edible sea snail, as a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches, the Strombidae. This species is one of the largest molluscs native to the tropical northwestern Atlantic, from Bermuda to Brazil, reaching up to 35.2 centimetres (13.9 inches) in shell length.

Description 
The shell is characterized by its large size, solidity and sculptured design with large thorns. The mouth is large, calloused, has great lip colors white, pink, yellow and orange. Sifonales Channels, anal and notch estromboide are wide and well marked.Warmke, Germaine L. & Abbott, R Tucker. (1961): Caribbean Seashells. Livingston Publishing Company. Narbeth. Pennsylvania.Abbott, R Tucker (1974). American Seashells. D. Van Nostrand Reinhold. Ltd. New York. 663.Macsotay O. & Campos. R. 2001. Moluscos representativos de la plataforma de Margarita. Editora Rivolta. Valencia. 280p. 

Distribution
Lobatus gigas is native to the tropical Western Atlantic coasts of North and Central America.Clench, William J. & Abbott, R. Tucker. 1941: The genus Strombus in the Western Atlantic. Johnsonia 1. October 25, 1941. Pp:1-16.Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce" . Strombus gigas. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2009-10-26. It lives in the greater Caribbean tropical zone.Although the species undoubtedly occurs in more individual places than are listed here, the countries, regions, and islands where this species has been recorded within the scientific literature as occurring are, in alphabetical order:Eustrombus gigas (Linnaeus, 1758).  A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca, Malacolog Version 4.1.1.. Retrieved 27 September 2009.

Aruba, of the Netherlands Antilles; Barbados; all of the islands and cays of the Bahamas; Belize; Bermuda; North and northeastern regions of Brazil (though this is contested by some authors);Moscatelli, R. (1987). The superfamily Strombacea from Western Atlantic. São Paulo, Brazil: Antonio A. Nanô & Filho Ltda. pp. 53–60. Old Providence Island in Colombia; Costa Rica; the Dominican Republic; Panama; Swan Islands in Honduras; Jamaica; Martinique; Alacran Reef, Campeche, Cayos Arcas and Quintana Roo, in Mexico; Puerto Rico; Saint Barthélemy; Mustique and Grenada in the Grenadines; Pinar del Río, North Havana Province, North Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, in the Turks and Caicos Islands and Cuba; South Carolina, Florida, including East Florida, West Florida, the Florida Keys and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, in the United States; Carabobo, Falcon, Gulf of Venezuela, Las Aves archipelago,  Los Roques archipelago, Los Testigos Islands and Sucre in Venezuela;Weil M, Ernesto y Laughlin Guevara, Roger. 1982. Por pesca indiscriminada el Botuto o Guarura a punto de desapareser. Ciencia al dia. 21(2):14-17Capelo, Juan Carlos. y Buitrago, Joaquin. 1998. Distribución geográfica de los moluscos marinos en el oriente de Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle LVIII(150):109-160. St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.

Habitat
He located between 0 and 18 m depth, but most often in soils carbonatites and seagrass beds.Carvajal Flor,  y Capelo Juan Carlos. 1993. Los moluscos de la plataforma Margarita-Coche-Tierra Firme (Venezuela), su distribución y abundancia. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle LIII(140):159-175.Ramos G. Hilda. y Robaina G. German. 1994. Contribucion al conocimiento de los moluscos gasteropodos y pelecipodos de la Bahía de Mochima. Edo. Sucre. Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle LIV(141):95-106.

Common names
Common names include "queen conch" and "pink conch" in English,Abbott, R Tucker (1954). American Seashells. D. Van Nostrand Company Inc. xiv + 541 p. New York. caracol rosa and caracol rosado in Mexico, caracol de pala, cobo, botuto and guarura in Venezuela,Cervigon, Fernando. y Velázquez Efigenio. (1981): Nombre vernáculos de organismos marinos del Estado Nueva Esparta. Fernando Cervigon Editor Caracas-Venezuela. caracol reina, lambí in the Dominican Republic, and  carrucho in Puerto Rico.

References

Other websites
 World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS): Lobatus gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) AphiaID: 564730



Category:Gastropods