<p>Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758 - queen conch (apertural view; ~9.0 centimeters across at its widest; apertural lip filed)
</p><p>This species is also known as Eustrombus gigas and Lobatus gigas.
</p><p>The gastropods (snails &amp; slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments.  Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails).  Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs &amp; sea slugs &amp; pteropods).  Most members of the Gastropoda are marine.  Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores.
</p><p>The queen conch, Strombus gigas, is a large gastropod that occupies shallow-water to moderately shallow-water seagrass beds, sandy seafloors, and rubbly seafloors.  It occurs in tropical to subtropical areas of the western Atlantic Basin, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.
</p><p>The queen conch shown above is part of the Caribbean Province: "The warm coral waters of the Caribbean stretching from northern Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico and northward adjacent to the Bahamas and Bermuda, contain a fauna of about 800 colorful species of common, shallow-water mollusks.  The pink, or queen, conch and the sunrise tellin are typical." [info. from museum signage]
</p><p>Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Strombidae
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<hr><p>More info. at:
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&lt;a href="<a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas</a>" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas&lt;/a&gt;
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/47445767@N05">James St. John</a>
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/49052107661/">Strombus gigas (queen conch) 5</a>