''Strombus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of medium to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Strombidae Strombidae, commonly known as the true conchs, is a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large sea snails in the superfamily Stromboidea, and the Epifamily Neostromboidae. The term true conchs, being a common name, does not have an exact m ...

, which comprises the true

conchs Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Ame ...

and their immediate relatives. The genus ''Strombus'' was named by Swedish Naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in 1758. Around 50 living species were recognized, which vary in size from fairly small to very large. Six species live in the greater Caribbean region, including the queen conch, ''

Strombus gigas ''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. Th ...

'' (now usually known as ''Eustrombus gigas'' or ''Lobatus gigas''), and the West Indian fighting conch, ''

Strombus pugilis ''Strombus pugilis'', common names the fighting conch and the West Indian fighting conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. ''S. pugilis'' is similar in appearanc ...

''. However, since 2006, many species have been assigned to discrete genera. These new genera are, however, not yet found in most textbooks and collector's guides. Worldwide, several of the larger species are economically important as food sources; these include the endangered queen conch, which very rarely also produces a pink, gem-quality

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

. In the geological past, a much larger number of species of ''Strombus'' existed. Fossils of species within this genus have been found all over the world in sediments from

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

to Quaternary (age range: 140.2 million years ago to recent).Fossilworks
/ref> Of the living species, most are in the Indian and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

s. Many species of true conchs live on sandy bottoms among beds of

sea grass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families ( Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the ...

in tropical waters. They eat

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from ...

and have a claw-shaped operculum.

Description

Anatomy

Like almost all shelled gastropods, conches have spirally constructed shells. Again, as is normally the case in many gastropods, this spiral shell growth is usually right-handed, but on very rare occasions it can be left-handed. True conches have long eye stalks, with colorful ring-marked eyes at the tips. The shell has a long and narrow aperture, and a short

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water ...

, with another indentation near the anterior end called a stromboid notch. This notch is where one of the two eye stalks protrudes from the shell. The true conch has a foot ending in a pointed, sickle-shaped, operculum, which can be dug into the substrate as part of an unusual "leaping" locomotion. True conches grow a flared lip on their shells only upon reaching

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definit ...

. This is called an alated outer lip or alation. Conches lay

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in long strands; the eggs are contained in twisted, gelatinous tubes. ''Strombus'' moves with a leaping motion.

Shell description

''Strombus'' shells have a flaring outer lip with a notch near the anterior end called the

stromboid notch The stromboid notch is an anatomical feature which is found in the shell of one taxonomic family of medium-sized to large sea snails, the conches. Marine gastropods in the family Strombidae have a notch in the edge of the shell aperture not ...

through which the animal can protrude one of its stalked eyes.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships among the Strombidae have been mainly accessed in two different occasions, using two distinct methods. In a 2005 monograph, Simone proposed a

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...

(a tree of descent) based on an extensive

morpho The morpho butterflies comprise many species of Neotropical butterfly under the genus ''Morpho''. This genus includes more than 29 accepted species and 147 accepted subspecies, found mostly in South America, Mexico, and Central America. ''Morp ...

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

analysis of representatives of the Aporrhaidae, Strombidae,

Xenophoridae Xenophoridae, common name, commonly called carrier shells, is a family (biology), family of medium-sized to large sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha. According to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (B ...

, and Struthiolariidae. However, according to Simone, only '' Strombus gracilior'', ''

Strombus alatus ''Strombus alatus'', the Florida fighting conch, is a species of medium-sized, warm-water sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Distribution This conch occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean from Nor ...

'', and ''

'', the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

, remained within ''Strombus''. In Simone's cladogram, these three species constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies (traits that are shared by two or more

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

and their

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

). The remaining taxa were previously considered as

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betwee ...

, and were elevated to genus level by Simone in the end of his analysis. In a different approach, Latiolais and colleagues (2006) proposed another cladogram that attempts to show the phylogenetic relationships of 34 species within the family Strombidae. The authors analysed 31 species in the genus ''Strombus'' and three species in the allied genus ''Lambis''. The cladogram was based on DNA sequences of both nuclear

histone H3 Histone H3 is one of the five main histones involved in the structure of chromatin in eukaryotic cells. Featuring a main globular domain and a long N-terminal tail, H3 is involved with the structure of the nucleosomes of the 'beads on a stri ...

and mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) protein-coding

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

regions. In this proposed phylogeny, ''Strombus pugilis'', ''Strombus alatus'', '' Strombus granulatus'' and ''Strombus gracilior'' are closely related and appear to share a

common ancestor Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal comm ...

.Latiolais, J. M.; Taylor M. S.; Roy, K.; Hellberg, M. E. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of strombid gastropod morphological diversity". ''

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer. Indexing The journal is indexed in: * EMBiology *Journal Citation Reports *Scopus ...

'' 41: 436-444.
PDF

Species

This genus of sea snails used to comprise about 50 species,Cob, Z. C. ''et al. '' (2009)
"Species Description and Distribution of ''Strombus'' (Mollusca: Strombidae) in Johor Straits and its Surrounding Areas"
''Sains Malaysiana'' 38 (1): 39–46. 38 of them occurring in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region. Species within the genus ''Strombus'' include: * ''

'' Gmelin, 1791 * '' Strombus gracilior'' Sowerby, 1825 * ''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoological ...

* '' Strombus fragilis'' (Röding, 1798) ;Extinct species Strombidae - Strombus radix

Extinct species within this genus include: * †''Strombus arayaensis'' Landau and Marques da Silva 2010 * †''Strombus bifrons'' Sowerby 1850 * †''Strombus contortus'' Forbes 1846 * †''Strombus coronatus'' Defrance 1827 * †''Strombus cossmanni'' Dey 1961 * †''Strombus daviesi'' Dey 1961 * †''Strombus evergladesensis'' Petuch 1991 * †''Strombus floridanus'' Mansfield 1930 * †''Strombus glaber'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus herklotsi'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus inflatus'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus javanus'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus junghuhni'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus labiatus'' Röding 1798 * †''Strombus lindae'' Petuch 1991 * †''Strombus mekranicus'' Vredenburg 1925 * †''Strombus proximus'' Sowerby 1850 * †''Strombus sedanensis'' Martin 1899 * †''Strombus triangulatus'' Martin 1879 * †''Strombus uncatus'' Forbes 1846 * †''Strombus urceus '' Linnaeus 1758 * †''

Strombus vomer ''Strombus'' is a genus of medium to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Strombidae, which comprises the true conchs and their immediate relatives. The genus ''Strombus'' was named by Swedish Naturalist Carl Linnaeus i ...

'' Röding 1798 ; Species brought into synonymy : * ''Strombus accipiter'' Dillwyn, 1817 : synonym of '' Lobatus costatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus aurisdianae'' Linnaeus, 1759: synonym of '' Euprotomus aurisdianae'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus bituberculatus'' Lamarck, 1822 : synonym of ''

Lobatus raninus ''Lobatus raninus'', common name the hawk-wing conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.Bouchet, P. (2010). Lobatus raninus (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World R ...

'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus boletus'' Röding, P.F., 1798: synonym of '' Clionella sinuata'' (Born, 1778) * ''Strombus bulla'' Röding, 1798: synonym of ''

Euprotomus bulla ''Euprotomus bulla'', common name : the Bubble Conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description The shell size varies between 48 mm and 90 mm. Distribution This s ...

'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Strombus canarium'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Laevistrombus canarium ''Laevistrombus canarium'' ( commonly known as the dog conch or by its better-known synonym, ''Strombus canarium'') is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Strombidae (true conches). Known from illustratio ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus costatus aguayoi'' Jaume & del Valle, 1947 : synonym of '' Lobatus costatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus decorus'' (Röding, 1798): synonym of '' Conomurex decorus'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Strombus dehelensis'': synonym of '' Conomurex fasciatus'' (Born, 1778) * ''Strombus dentatus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Tridentarius dentatus ''Tridentarius dentatus'', common name : the Toothed Conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Distribution This species is distributed in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean along Alda ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus epidromis'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Labiostrombus epidromis ''Labiostrombus epidromis'', common name the swan conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description The typical size of the adult shell varies between 50 and 95 mm. Distri ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus erythrinus'' is a synonym for ''

Canarium erythrinum ''Canarium erythrinum'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. ''Canarium erythrinum'' is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo/West Pacific area, including the Red Sea ...

'' Dillwyn, 1817 * ''Strombus fasciatus'' Born, 1778: synonym of '' Persististrombus latus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus fusiformis'' is a synonym for ''

Canarium fusiforme ''Canarium fusiforme'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description Distribution Phylogeny In 2006, Latiolais and colleagues proposed a cladogram (a tree of descent) that ...

'' Sowerby, 1842 * ''Strombus galeatus'' Swainson, 1823: synonym of ''

Titanostrombus galeatus ''Titanostrombus galeatus'', commonly known as the Eastern Pacific giant conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs and their allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. T ...

'' (Swainson, 1823) * ''Strombus gallus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Aliger gallus ''Aliger gallus'', previously known as ''Strombus gallus'', common name the rooster conch or rooster-tail conch, is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.MolluscaBase eds. (2 ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus gibberulus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of '' Gibberulus gibberulus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus gigas'' is a synonym for ''

Eustrombus gigas ''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. Thi ...

'' L., 1758 * ''Strombus guidoi'' Man in t'Veld & De Turck, 1998: synonym of ''Laevistrombus canarium guidoi'' (Man in 't Veld & De Turck, 1998) * ''Strombus goliath'' Schröter, 1805 : synonym of '' Lobatus goliath'' (Schröter, 1805) * ''Strombus haemastoma'' Sowerby, 1842: synonym of ''

Canarium haemastoma ''Canarium scalariforme'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.MolluscaBase (2018). Canarium scalariforme (Duclos, 1833). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://ww ...

'' (Sowerby II, 1842) * ''Strombus hickeyi'' Willan, 2000: synonym of '' Dolomena hickeyi'' (Willan, 2000) * ''Strombus inermis'' Swainson, 1822 : synonym of '' Lobatus costatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus integer'' Swainson, 1823 : synonym of '' Lobatus costatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus jeffersonia'' Van Hyning, 1945 : synonym of '' Lobatus costatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus labiatus'' is a synonym for '' Canarium labiatum'' Röding, 1798 * ''Strombus labiosus'' Gray in Wood, 1828: synonym of ''

Dolomena labiosa ''Dolomena labiosa'', commonly known as the thick-lipped conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description The shell size varies between 20 mm and 65 mm. Distributi ...

'' (Wood, 1828) * ''Strombus latus'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Persististrombus latus'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Strombus lentiginosus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Lentigo lentiginosus ''Lentigo lentiginosus'', common name the silver conch, is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Shell description The maximum shell length of this species is 100 mm, but ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus listeri'' Gray, 1852: synonym of ''

Mirabilistrombus listeri ''Mirabilistrombus listeri'', common name the Lister's snail , is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusken in the family Strombidae, the true snail. Description The shell size varies between 90 mm and 160 mm. When the anima ...

'' (Gray, 1852) * ''Strombus luhuanus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Conomurex luhuanus ''Conomurex luhuanus'', common name Strawberry conch or Tiger conch, is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.Rosenberg, G. (2011). Conomurex luhuanus (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus magolecciai'' Macsotay & Villarroel, 2001: synonym of ''Lobatus magolecciai'' (Macsotay & Campos, 2001) *'' Strombus marginatus'' C. Linnaeus, 1758 : synonym of ''

Margistrombus marginatus ''Margistrombus marginatus'', common name: the Marginate Conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.Bouchet, P. (2011). Margistrombus marginatus (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus mutabilis'' Swainson, 1821: synonym of ''

Canarium mutabile ''Canarium mutabile'', common name the variable stromb, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description The shell size varies between 15 mm and 45 mm. Distribution This sp ...

'' (Swainson, 1821) * ''Strombus oldi'' Emerson, 1965: synonym of '' Tricornis oldi'' (Emerson, 1965) * ''Strombus persicus'' (Swainson, 1821): synonym of ''

Conomurex persicus ''Conomurex persicus'', common name : the Persian conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description The shell size varies between 35 mm and 75 mm Distribution This spe ...

'' (Swainson, 1821) * ''Strombus plicatus'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Dolomena plicata'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Strombus sinuatus'' Humphrey, 1786: synonym of ''

Sinustrombus sinuatus ''Sinustrombus sinuatus'', common name the laciniate conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the true conch family, Strombidae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Description The shell of ''S. sinuatus ...

'' ( ightfoot 1786) * ''Strombus terebellatus'' Sowerby, 1842: synonym of ''

Terestrombus terebellatus ''Terestrombus terebellatus'', common name : the little auger conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description Adult shell size in this species varies between 25 mm and 54 ...

'' (G.B. Sowerby II, 1842) * ''Strombus tricornis'' (Humphrey, 1786): synonym of '' Tricornis tricornis'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Strombus urceus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Canarium urceus ''Canarium urceus'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class compris ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus ustulatus'' (Schumacher, 1817): synonym of Canarium urceus urseus (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Strombus variabilis'' Swainson, 1820: synonym of '' Dolomena variabilis'' (Swainson, 1820) * ''Strombus wilsoni'' Abbott, 1967: synonym of ''

Canarium wilsonorum ''Canarium wilsonorum'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Description Distribution This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Mozambique, Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officia ...

'' (Abbott, 1967) * ''Strombus wilsonorum'' Abbott, 1967: synonym of ''

'' (Abbott, 1967) * ''Strombus yerburyi'' E. A. Smith, 1891: synonym of ''Dolomena plicata yerburyi'' (E. A. Smith, 1891) * ''Strombus zonatus'' Wood, 1828: synonym of ''

Cerithium zonatum ''Cerithium zonatum'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by m ...

'' (W. Wood, 1828)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q858772 Strombidae Extant Berriasian first appearances Berriasian genus first appearances