• The Queen Conch Shell, Aliger Gigas, is the official seashell of the US Virgin Islands.

• Queen conchs can grow to be about 6 to 9 inches long and weigh up to 5 pounds.

• Young queen conchs grow about 3 inches a year in length.  Once they become adults, they stop getting longer and begin thickening their shells and adding the flared lip.  It takes 3 or 4 years to become an adult, and they can live about 15 years.
• Arawak, Taino, and Caribe Indians used queen conchs for jewelry, tools, cookware, horns, and building materials, in addition to food.
• Conch horns made from the Queen Conch Shell are US Coast Guard approved safety equipment.

• Conchs usually live in seagrass beds.
• Conchs eat the algae growing on the seagrass and decaying plant and animal matter.
• It takes a conch about 2 months to travel one mile, but they may travel large distances over their lifetime.
• Conchs have a claw-like operculum on their foot, which they use like pole-vaulting to move around. They move forward by leaping and tumbling.

• Some of the animals that eat conchs are:
  • Porcupine fish
  • Spiny lobsters
  • Crabs
  • Sea turtles
  • Other snails
• Some of the animals that use conch shells are octopus and hermit crabs that live in the abandoned shells.

Conch Fishing

• Conchs must be 9“ long or have a 3/8” lip.

• You are limited to 6 per day for personal use.

• Conch season is November 1 through May 31. This means conch may not be collected June 1-October 31.

• The foot is the part of the conch that we eat.
• For more information on Queen Conch shells, please visit the Seashell Museum where 11 queen conch shells are displayed showing the growth cycle from a 1 ¼ in 4 month old shell to a 9 inch, fully developed 4 year old shell.