Portal:Gastropods/Selected article/6
Lobatus gigas (previously known as Strombus gigas), known commonly as the queen conch, is a species of very large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod in the family of true conchs, Strombidae. Lobatus gigas is one of the largest mollusks native to the tropical "Caribbean faunal zone" of the Western Atlantic Ocean, from Bermuda to Brazil. Other common names include pink conch, caracol reina, caracol rosa, caracol rosado, caracol de pala, cobo, botuto, guarura, and lambí.
This large herbivorous gastropod lives in seagrass beds. The adult animal has a very large, solid shell with a characteristic pink-colored aperture and a flared thick outer lip, which is absent in younger specimens. The anatomy of L. gigas is similar to other Strombidae snails, with a long snout, two eyestalks with additional sensory tentacles, a strong foot and a corneous sickle shaped operculum.
Lobatus gigas has a few commensals (such as slipper snails, porcelain crabs and cardinal fishes), parasites (coccidian infections) and predators, including other mollusks, starfish, crustaceans and vertebrates (fish, sea turtles and humans). Its meat is consumed by humans in a wide variety of dishes, and the shell, which is sold as a souvenir and used as a decorative object in contemporary times, was also utilized to fabricate utensils by Native Americans and Caribbean natives in the past. (Read more...)