Queen Conch, Strombus gigas (Linnaeus 1758) Status Report Photo credit: CITES PURPOSE This document summarizes and synthesizes biological information covering queen conch, Strombus gigas, throughout its natural distribution. It seeks to present the best available information from published and unpublished sources (e.g., literature searches, interviews). This document does not represent a decision by NMFS on whether this taxon should be proposed for listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Table of Contents 1. Introduction and Background .................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 7 2. Life History.............................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Taxonomy and Distinctive Characteristics ...................................................................... 7 2.3 Range and Distribution.................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Habitat Use and Movement ........................................................................................... 10 2.5 Life Stages and Growth ................................................................................................. 12 2.6 Reproduction ................................................................................................................. 14 2.7 Diet and Feeding ........................................................................................................... 16 3. Threats ................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Commercial Harvest ...................................................................................................... 16 3.2. Limits to Reproduction and Recruitment ...................................................................... 17 3.3 Population Connectivity and Genetics .......................................................................... 18 3.4 Water Pollution ............................................................................................................. 21 3.5 Habitat Stressors ............................................................................................................ 23 3.6 Parasites ......................................................................................................................... 24 3.7 Natural Mortality ........................................................................................................... 26 3.8 Predation ........................................................................................................................ 26 3.9 Climate Change Implications ........................................................................................ 27 4. Existing Regulatory Mechanisms .......................................................................................... 27 4.1 Existing Regulation (Domestic) ..................................................................................... 27 4.2 Existing Regulations (Foreign Countries) ...................................................................... 28 4.3 International Trade Regulations ..................................................................................... 28 5. Life-History and Fisheries Management ............................................................................... 31 6. Description of Fisheries and Management ............................................................................ 33 6.1 Antigua and Barbuda ...................................................................................................... 33 6.2 Aruba .............................................................................................................................. 34 6.3 The Bahamas .................................................................................................................. 35 6.4 Barbados ......................................................................................................................... 38 6.5 Belize .............................................................................................................................. 39 6.6 Bermuda ......................................................................................................................... 42 6.7 Brazil .............................................................................................................................. 42 2 6.8 The British Virgin Islands .............................................................................................. 42 6.9 Caribbean Netherlands / Netherlands Antilles ............................................................... 44 6.10 The Cayman Islands ....................................................................................................... 45 6.11 Costa Rica ...................................................................................................................... 46 6.12 Colombia ........................................................................................................................ 46 6.13 Cuba ............................................................................................................................... 49 6.14 Dominican Republic ....................................................................................................... 50 6.15 United States (Florida) ................................................................................................... 52 6.16 Grenada .......................................................................................................................... 55 6.17 Haiti ................................................................................................................................ 55 6.18 Honduras ........................................................................................................................ 56 6.19 Jamaica ........................................................................................................................... 57 6.20 French West Indies (Martinique and Guadeloupe) ........................................................ 61 6.21 Mexico ............................................................................................................................ 62 6.22 Montserrat ...................................................................................................................... 63 6.23 Nicaragua ....................................................................................................................... 63 6.24 Panama ........................................................................................................................... 64 6.25 Puerto Rico ..................................................................................................................... 65 6.26 Saint Kitts/Nevis ............................................................................................................ 68 6.27 Saint Lucia ...................................................................................................................... 69 6.28 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines .................................................................................. 70 6.29 Trinidad and Tobago ...................................................................................................... 71 6.30 Turks and Caicos ............................................................................................................ 71 6.31 U.S. Virgin Islands ......................................................................................................... 73 6.32 Venezuela ....................................................................................................................... 75 7. References ............................................................................................................................. 77 8. Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 3 List of Tables Table 1: Median number of Apicomplexa parasites per site per field site (Aldana Aranda et al. 2011) ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Table 2: Densities of adult and subadult queen conch on the shallow bank of the Jumentos and Ragged Islands, Bahamas. Values for each geographic region are reported as mean and standard deviations for the number of individuals per hectare (no./10,000 m2). Number of tows is equivalent to the number of 1-nautical-mile-square boxes surveyed in the region (Stoner et al. unpublished 2013) ......................................................................................................................... 38 Table 3: Descriptive statistics from 2003/1993 conch study sites (Gore and Llewellyn 2005) ... 43 Table 4: Description statistics from the new conch study sites introduced in 2003 (Gore and Llewellyn 2005) ............................................................................................................................ 44 Table 5: Strombus gigas landings in Cuba expressed in metric tons (live weight) (Lumus and Lorenzo 2012)..............................................................................................................................