surfnvb7 Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 I got this conch at the LFS. Before getting it, I tried to inquire that it wasn't the species that got excessivly large. I was assured that this type of conch was the type that stayed small (or smaller compared to the other well known species). However, they thought the name on it might be Queen Conch, contradicting what I have read here about queen conchs. In the discussion the manager said that the fighting conch was the one that got very large, not the queen. Also, not sure if this matters, this conch and the ones that came with it were all tank raised. Not sure if it came from someones tank or a company they ordered it from. So anyways, here is a picture of the conch, and I was just wondering if anyone could figure out for sure what species this is... It is only 1" long and 0.5" in diameter. Color is mostly a dark grey/green. Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Queen conchs get huge, fighting conchs stay small. Link to comment
mikej Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Does the conch's foot taper to the rear into a hard spine? If so, it's a fighting conch. The manager of the store was wrong. Fighting conchs stay small, and queen conchs get quite large. Link to comment
surfnvb7 Posted January 28, 2005 Author Share Posted January 28, 2005 Yes, I was aware of which type gets to be a certain size. The problem is still trying to identify it... I'm not sure what you mean about the foot tapering into a hard spine...? Do you know of any good sites/pics that identify that? I've tried some research but haven't come up with anything about that... Thanks Link to comment
Hunter21 Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I have a fighting conch and his shell is all smooth...no points on it like yours so I would assume you have a queen conch there! Good luck! Hunter Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Sorry. You have a QUEEN CONCH. It will get over 1 foot in size over several years. Link to comment
davinaster Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I've been trying unsuccessfully to identify my conch as well. It looks just like yours, and I found it labeled "fighting conch" and "queen conch" in various places on the internet, just like so many other things in this hobby. One site I found that was about conch farming - and only queen conchs are farmed for pearls - said that the definitive difference is that queen conchs are pink just inside their shells while fighting conchs are tan/brown/green (which mine is). So I've decided that mine is a fighting conch , which will "only" get to be 6" long instead of a foot - still way to big for my 5.5g nano. I've grown quite attached to the little guy and figure that if it is a queen conch, clearly I will need to get a 100g (350g ?) to move it to Link to comment
Sushi Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 juvenile fighting conchs will not have the spikes, they are known to grow them out when they mature.... look at these websites for reference on ID http://www.seashells.org/seashells/fightingconch.htm http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Dis...=43&pCatId=1336 http://www.saltwaterfish.com/m-inverts/Fig...ting-Conch.html http://www.seashells.org/seashells/gastrop...odseashells.htm http://seashellworld.com/Merchant2/merchan...gory_Code=Conch my guess is that u have a florida fighting conch... Link to comment
surfnvb7 Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 Interesting information... davinaster where did you get that information on the coloring? uchiha, what defines a juvenile exactly? Meaning up to 1yr etc? The more I keep reading info the more I still think its a good possibility its a fighting conch that is older and WITH the spikes. It is definately not pink anywhere, nor any light colors. Mostly dark grey/green. What about behaviors? Do the 2 species have noticeably different behaviors? i.e. I think I read somewhere about 1 type burrows, while the other type will climb rock etc.... Any ideas? Thanks for the input! Link to comment
Hunter21 Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Well my fighting conch..kind of stays on the sand and cleans on the upper layers of the sand...like he buries himself just a little and cleans the top layers of sand but he just will not go on the rocks for some reason so now the rocks have developed green hair algae and it's definitely an eyesore! hope that helps some! Good luck! Hunter Link to comment
Sushi Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 to tell u the truth i dont know what defines juvenile. my florida fighting conch is about 1.25'' and he hasn't quite developed spikes on his shell, i don't know how old a 1.25'' conch would be so i can't make a guess about age. anyways, mine does what hunter21's does... stay on the sand bed, sometimes burrows a bit into the sand, but i have NEVER seen it on the rock. according to D2Rhino, fighting conchs have bad survival rates in nano tanks and need large areas of sand bed in order to survive, just thot i'd like to throw that info out there; with that in mind, i've had my conch for a few months now without problems... but i will find a larger home for him when it grows. Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Hes pretty much full grown isnt he? Link to comment
surfnvb7 Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 Anyone with a queen conch notice any different behavior than what was mentioned earlier with the fighting conch? Link to comment
xeon Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Physical ID'ing aside, a queen conch will go all over the tank... sand, glass and rocks. LOL, and people think Mexican Turbos can be bulldozers... wait till you have a baby 3" or larger queen running around. A fighting conch will never leave the sand. So if you have one that goes all over the tank... it will one day get huge. My fighting conch has tripled in size in less than a years time. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.