Aliger gigas

Common card · No. 219043

Aliger gigas, originally known as Strombus gigas or more recently as Lobatus gigas, commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches, the Strombidae. This species is one of the largest molluscs native to the Caribbean Sea, and tropical northwestern Atlantic, reaching up to 35.2 centimetres (13.9 in) in shell length. A. gigas is closely related to the goliath conch, Titanostrombus goliath, a species endemic to Brazil, as well as the rooster conch, Aliger gallus. The queen conch is herbivorous. It feeds by browsing for plant and algal material growing in the seagrass beds, and scavenging for decaying plant matter. These large sea snails typically reside in seagrass beds, which are sandy plains covered in swaying sea grass and associated with coral reefs, although the exact habitat of this species varies according to developmental age. The adult animal has a very large, solid and heavy shell, with knob-like spines...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Jennifer Doerr, NOAA SEFSC Galveston, Public domain