The Majestic Queen Conch

By Amy Bentley

There are certain shells you must have in your collection. You know, that special shell you just gotta have. This could be a favored cowrie or conch, or a rare shell like the highly coveted, leopard-spotted junonia. If you live in Florida like me, one of the most-desired shells is a top quality specimen of the “queen” of shells: the majestic queen conch. And not one from the store—one found in nature. Thanks to my shelling buddy Gary Martinez, I have one!

To find an empty queen conch in its natural environment is a huge thrill. Queen conchs (originally known as Strombus gigas, now known as Aliger gigas) can grow to be a foot long and weigh up to five pounds. So, if you go out hunting for a queen conch in Florida, be prepared to haul a heavy shell around if you are lucky enough to find one with no live animal inside. The shell has a glossy pink interior and a spiral shaped shell with a thick, flared outer lip. They are native to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Florida Keys, and can be found in seagrass meadows or coral reefs. They can live up to 40 years.

This herbivorous marine snail is endangered due to overfishing and poaching. It is protected in Florida, and taking a live queen conch or transporting one in Florida is illegal. In 2024, NOAA Fisheries listed the queen conch as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and it is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Anyone caught taking or harvesting live queen conch in Florida faces arrest from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The good news is the protections are working. On a shelling trip to the lower Keys in March 2024, I saw dozens of live queen conchs of all sizes—too many to count! It was very gratifying. Unfortunately, I did not find any empty queen conchs to take home (empties are allowed), despite looking around a large area near Missouri Key at low tide.

However, Gary found a huge, empty queen conch way out in the water. He joked that he didn’t want to haul it around. He offered the heavy shell to me and I was happy to take it off his hands. After cleaning it up at home with lots of bleach and scraping, I was rewarded with a stunning, massive, specimen-quality adult queen conch with a deep pink aperture. It remains one of my favorite shells in my collection.

The queen conch has a long history in the Keys. This iconic shell has become a symbol of Key West, which is nicknamed the “Conch Republic” because of the shell’s significance in the Keys.

Native Americans used these large shells centuries ago for many purposes. Bahamian immigrants to the Keys also revered the queen conch, as they do in their native country where conch meat is a diet staple. You can eat conch fritters, conch crowder and other conch favorites throughout the Keys and the Bahamas, and people also enjoy blowing a queen conch trumpet.

Queen conch shells are sold throughout the Keys as décor and souvenirs, so if you don’t find one empty, you can buy one. I bought a few worn-looking queen conchs from an old fisherman at a roadside stand in Key Largo where there was a big pile of discarded shells that had been harvested for the meat; you could tell by the large hole in the spire. Of course, a queen conch without this tell-tale harvesting hole in the spire is a treasure for any collection and a shell worth hunting for.