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The Beautiful Florida Fighting Conch

A post, with pictures, about the Florida Fighting Conch seashell.

shallow ocean water shoreline

One of my favorite shells to see up close is the Fighting Conch, or the Florida Fighting Conch (Strombus alatus) as it’s known.  It is in the family Strombidae.

The Fighting Conch can be found on all Florida shorelines, but they prefer sandy, shallow water where wave action is minimal.   That’s exactly the type of place I discovered this one.

Before I came across this living mollusk, I had collected an empty fighting conch shell while visiting Sanibel Island.    On the Gulf coast, this shell is more common than where I am on the East coast.

So what is a conch shell? (Pronounced “konk”) By definition it is a large, spiral-shaped seashell.  It is big, but thicker and heavier than other gastropods, like the whelks.   The conch is the living creature inside which is sometimes harvested to eat.  Conch is on the menu in many tropical based restaurants, and the meat can be from any large gastropod shell.

I’ve also come across a broken and worn Fighting Conch shell with a hermit crab inside. This happened while exploring another similar type of island.

broken fighting conch
Broken Fighting Conch Shell with Hermit Crab Inside

Recently, I was lucky enough to come across this living Fighting Conch while walking the beach of an island in the Indian River.  I didn’t think to measure it, but I’d estimate it’s length to be around 4 inches, and they don’t get much bigger, according to my seashell reference book.

Fighting conch shell with mollusk inside
The Beautiful Fighting Conch – this one is alive.

The chunky, wide-bodied shell, with a more compact spire, is a giveaway as to the name of this one.   It is known to “fight” or jump at other shells that could be a danger to it, hence the “fighting” name.

Look at the beautiful colors on the shell!  From the dark purple with orange edges underneath at the aperture, to the light purple on top (it’s spire), even though this one has some green algae and a few barnacles, it was a lovely sight to behold.  I couldn’t help but wonder how beautiful it would have been all cleaned up.

florida fighting conch and mollusk
Living Florida Fighting Conch – view of the mollusk inside

I saw this shell up on the sand at an island out on the Indian River. I picked it up hoping it was empty so I could take it home, but found a living conch inside.   A fun surprise (at least it wasn’t a hermit crab!)

I took it to the boat to show my son – how often do you find something so awesome?  I got my iPhone to take these pictures, and then left it in the shallow water which is it’s home.

fighting conch seashell

My video of this living conch shell.  Somehow it ended up in Slow-motion (I am not tech savvy), which shows the sea water slowly coming in around the shell.

If you are ever tempted to try “conch” when out to eat at a Florida restaurant, this is the type of thing you are eating. The living shells are collected and the animal is pulled out and cooked.

I offer a free, downloadable coloring page of the Florida Fighting Conch.

I’ve found other living mollusks while out boating.  This big horse conch was pretty cool, and even a little pear whelk with the mollusk inside.

The Pink conch (or Queen conch) is a threatened species due to over-harvesting. For this same reason I no longer buy seashells from gift shops or shell shops. When I am walking the beach, or visiting these islands out on the river, I always only collect empty seashells.

The Jewel Box Seashells Are Leafy, Spiny and Corrugated

Florida spiny jewelboxes
Florida’s Spiny Jewelbox

This is a picture of my spiny jewelbox seashells. I don’t have many and they are simply call Spiny Jewelbox (Arcinella cornuta). They are white with spikes or ridges (if the spikes have worn down) and the inside is pinkish.  These are found on both Florida coasts, but mainly along the Gulf Coast and Keyes area.  Many may not have spines because they get broken and worn off by the action of the sea.

This shell is a bi-valve, which means it comes in two parts.  It is rare to find any bi-valves that are still attached along the beach because the action of the waves tends to break the shells apart.  Also, some bi-valves live attached to something, like wharf pilings or rocks, and that part stays put as the upper half may break off.  This is the case when you find a kittenpaw shell.

Other types of Jewelbox shells, which I may have collected at some point when I had no idea what I was picking up, look a bit different than mine.  In fact, some do not have spines or spikes, but are still rather bumpy looking. The Leafy Jewelbox (Chama macerophylla) has many flattened, thin ridges (unless they are worn – then they are bumpy) and can be colorful purple and orange or bright yellow.

There is also a Corrugate Jewelbox (or Little Corrugated Jewelbox) which is small, growing only to around one inch in size.   It is a flatter, bumpy shell without such distinct ribs as in the spiny variety.  Both of these can be collected on most Florida coastlines, although you may have to search harder on the east coast where shells are more sparse.  These shells are small, whereas the others can be up to three inches in size.

The Atlantic Left-Handed Jewelbox (Pseudochama radians) is also known as the False Jewelbox and I really don’t know much about that one except that it is found from North Carolina to Brazil.

If you live on the west coast of the U. S., you may find the Clear Jewel Box (Charma arcana) seashell along your coastline.  It looks a lot like the Leafy Jewel Box except that it is not as colorful but may be tinged with pink or orange.

What are the spines and “leafy parts” for?  It helps protect them from other seashell predators who may want to drill into the shell and eat what is inside.  Yup, that’s what they do!