Queen Conch

Part of the Pearls exhibition.

Strombus gigas

Conchs have long been commercially harvested for their succulent flesh, used in chowders, conch salad and fritters. Natural porcelainlike conch pearls, in sunset pinks and golds, are usually found as a by-product of this harvest. The Queen Conch, official symbol of the Bahama Islands and the Florida Keys, is one of the largest living plant-eating gastropods.