File:Strombus gigas shell (queen conch) (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) 1 (15955706170).jpg

Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758 - queen conch shell on shallow subtidal seafloor (aragonite sand substrate). (photo taken by Mark Peter)

Gastropods are slug-like molluscs. They occur in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Many of them (snails) make a calcareous, coiled, external shell, which is used for protection from predators. A large species of marine gastropod (snail) in the waters around San Salvador Island is the Strombus gigas, the queen conch. It was formerly abundant but is now uncommon due to overharvesting by humans for food. "Conch fritters" are a common dish in the Bahamas. Bahamian law forbids harvesting of pre-adult queen conchs, but this rule is frequently ignored by scofflaws. Adult queen conchs have a flared apertural margin, whereas pre-adult individuals lack the flared aperture. The apertural inner surface has a lovely pinkish to reddish coloration.

The fish near the center of the photo is a juvenile Halichoeres bivittatus (Bloch, 1791), a type of wrasse (common name "slippery dick") (Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Labridae). The green-colored blades surrounding the shell are turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum König, 1805 - Plantae, Angiospermophyta, Najadales, Hydrocharitaceae). The thin, green-colored stalks surrounding the shell are manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme (Kützing, 1860) - Plantae, Angiospermophyta, Najadales, Cymodoceaceae).

Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Strombidae