''Lobatus peruvianus'', commonly known as the Peruvian conch or the cock's comb conch, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of large

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Strombidae Strombidae, commonly known as the true conchs, is a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large sea snails in the superfamily Stromboidea, and the Epifamily Neostromboidae. The term true conchs, being a common name, does not have an exact mea ...

, the true conchs and their allies.

Distribution

''Lobatus peruvianus'' occurs along the benthic tropical coastal waters of the Eastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Ocean. Their distribution stretches across various countries and regions including the Gulf of California, Mexico, Pacific Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. These Peruvian Conchs are sand dwellers and are found in depths up to 130 feet.

Description

The shell of Lobatus peruvianus is large, ranging from . It was originally described by William John Swainson in 1823, with him stating that the shell is "heavy, with a depressed spire, and a prominent tip". Like other species in the same genus, ''Lobatus peruvianuss outer lip is very pronounced and ornamental. The outside color of the shell falls into the tan and light brown range, sometimes also pink; while both the inner and outer lips are cream, pink, or white. While not much information is available regarding the Peruvian conch specifically, similar species in the same Genus have life spans of up to 40 years; while the majority live between 10 and 30 years.

Behavior

Similar to other animals in the family Strombidae, ''Lobatus peruvianus'' moves around by using their muscular foot that sinks like a claw into the sand to exert force and move forward. This behavior is also beneficial in terms of predator avoidance. It causes the conch's chemical trail to be scattered and inconsistent therefore confusing predators. Similar to other conchs in the family Strombidae, Peruvian conchs can take around 5 years to reach maturity and are therefore very slow-growing creatures.

Diet

This species is an

algivore Algae eater or algivore is a common name for any bottom-dwelling or filter-feeding aquatic animal species that specialize in feeding on algae and phytoplanktons. Algae eaters are important for the fishkeeping hobby and many are commonly kept by ...

, which means that its diet mostly consists of

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

. It locates food by scrounging over the sea-floor. Since strombids are shallow sand dwellers, they move along the sea-floor finding algae that live in shallow waters. They may also occasionally feed on detritus.Latiolais J. M., Taylor M. S., Roy K. & Hellberg M. E. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of strombid gastropod morphological diversity". ''

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer. Indexing The journal is indexed in: *EMBiology *Journal Citation Reports *Scopus ...

'' 41: 436-444.
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Human Uses

''Lobatus peruvianus'' is a major source of protein for many groups along the Pacific coast. Besides the subsistence use of these conchs, their shell provides many uses. Due to its color and intricate form, people have been attracted to the shell of the ''Lobatus peruvianus''. Peruvians used the shell to create trumpets; which was possible due to the substantial opening at the top of the shell from which the sound is amplified from. Conchs are vulnerable to overfishing due to their slow growth rates and late mating tendencies; because of this, it is illegal or frowned upon to harvest these types of conch.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6663572 Strombidae Gastropods described in 1823