Category: Seashells

Shells of marine snails found along Florida’s beaches and saltwater rivers.

The Demise of the Pink Conch

The Pink or Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), can grow to be a foot or more in length and has a smooth pink interior. (Horse conch snails can grow to be 2 feet long!). The pretty shell is in danger of disappearing because of its collection as a decoration after the snail is pulled from it’s home to be eaten!
Have you ever eaten conch? I have not.  In Florida and other Caribbean areas, the conch is a delicacy and is made into fritters and other food, but it has been over fished so there are restrictions and fines associated with the collecting of it. Conch meat is used in chowder, salads, fried, fritters, sandwiches and more.

queen conch shells
Queen (Pink) Conchs

For these two reasons, the Queen or Pink conch is in high demand. It is very unlikely that you will just come across a large, empty queen conch on the beach. They are trawled and taken from their homes out in the ocean and brought in for shell shops and restaurants. The queen conchs I have were purchased over 20 years ago at a shell shop some place in Florida. At the time, I never thought about where they came from, but I would definitely not purchase one now.

So when you vacation in the tropics, you might want to think twice before ordering conch fritters just to be able to say you’ve tried it.

*More strange food they eat in Florida – Alligator and turtle.  I lived across the street from some people who had a cookout and the food was served buffet style.  I added to my plate what looked like chicken nuggets and fortunately I was told that it was turtle meat before I tried it.  Yikes, that was close. I love the Gopher turtles and could never ever eat one!

Continue Reading this Blog…

The State Shell of Florida

Surrounded by miles of beautiful beaches, when residents of the state of Florida decided to choose one type of mollusk as it’s state shell, I imagine that it was difficult.

In 1969 the Horse Conch won the title.  The shell is found in the waters all around Florida and can grow to be very large. It can be up to two feet in length and the animal living inside is bright orange. It is the largest snail living in North America so I imagine that is the reason the Horse Conch won the title.

When my son and I go boating we occasionally find living horse conchs out on the mud flats at low tide.

The living horse conch has a dark brown coating on it’s shell. Often the shells are not very pretty when I see them in the wild. Usually they are partly buried in the muck.

Crusty horse conch living on mud flats of the Indian River
Horse conch buried in mud

When the shell is exposed to sun, the coating, called periostracum, dries and flakes off to leave a whitish shell.

living horse conch
Live Horse Conch

Shells found in nature will most likely have a much different appearance than the shells you see in pictures because those have usually been cleaned up. Knowing the basic shape of a shell or some other characteristics – other than color – may help you identify what you have found.

The juvenile horse conch is yellowish in color. Usually the ones I find have hermit crabs inside.

juvenile horse conch shell
Tiny horse conch shell with hermit crab inside

A shell which resembles the horse conch is the Tulip shell. It is also elongated but with rounded and smooth body whorls as compared to the bumps on a horse conch. Tulip shells don’t grow as large and the snail is not bright orange like the horse.

Read more on this blog About the Horse Conch.

View a list of some other states that have chosen to have a “state shell” and what they chose: Here

Recent Blog Posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

The Whelks of Florida

The Whelk shells of Florida are widely collected and they can be some of the largest shells you’ll find on Florida beaches. (Don’t collect them if they are inhabited.)

The Knobbed Whelk (Busycon carica), Channeled Whelk (Busycon canaliculatum), Pear Whelk (Busycon spiratum) and Lightning Whelk (Busycon contrarium) can all be quite large – the Pear is the smallest.  Common characteristics include their long shape with a wide opening down the length of the shell.

Of these four, the Pear Whelk is the smallest when full grown. It grows to a length of 5 1/2 inches. I have come across pear whelks out on the sandy flats while boating. I’ve seen them as yellow, gray and with brown splotches. They are usually inhabited by hermit crabs.  Then I recently found one with a live snail inside. (2nd photo)

pear whelk seashell
Pear whelk seashell with hermit crab inside
pear whelk mollusk
Pear Whelk with Mollusk Inside

The Lightning Whelk is another one I find often in the backwater areas. It’s usually small like the pear whelk, but this one can grow to be 16 inches long.  It is recognizable by it’s left-side opening.

lightning whelk mollusk shell
Live Lightning Whelk (Notice the left-sided opening)

This is a fairly new photo of the knobbed whelk. I discovered it in January just offshore on an island in the Indian River backwater. A hermit crab was living inside, so I got some photos and returned it to the water.

knobbed whelk
Knobbed Whelk

The channeled whelk is not a shell I have found in one piece. It grows to be 7.5 inches in length. The top spiral part of the shell differs from the other whelks because it looks extended, like someone pulled it out. The whorls on the other shells are tight and semi-flat.

large broken whelk shell
White and broken channeled whelk shell remains

This is the only channeled whelk I have found and even though it was very broken it turned out there was a hermit crab living in it! I had to take it back and return it to the water.

The Channeled whelk only lives along the northeastern coast of Florida to about halfway down the state.  I guess that explains why I don’t see many of this kind of shell.

Latest from the Blog

After Three Years of Florida Camping, These Are My Thoughts

My son and I have been camping in our 28 foot long, Grand Design XLS 23LDE camper since 2022. Because we have two cats, and prefer to not have to take them camping, our camping trips are usually only two nights long. For that reason, all of our camping travels have been close to our home,…

Camping with Cats: Tips for a Smooth Trip

We have been camping with our two older cats this winter. They seem to be adjusting to RV living. I have some advice for those who are thinking about camping with a cat.