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A conch is one of a number of different species of medium-sized to large saltwater snails or their shells.

The true conchs are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Strombidae, and the genus ''Strombus'' and other closely related genera.

The name ''conch'' comes, via French, from the Greek word meaning any kind of shellfish or their shells.

The first use in English cited by the OED is from 1398, and declares firmly that ''Al that fysshe wyth the shelles ben callyd conch'' in other words, ''all water animals with shells are called conch.''

Later the word conch narrowed in usage, and is now primarily used for the shells (or whole animals, or meat) of several different kinds of large sea snails that have shells which are pointed at both ends. A conch shell has a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal.

Species often called a ''conch'' that are ''not'' in the family Strombidae include the crown conch ''Melongena'' species; the horse conch ''Pleuroploca gigantea''; and the sacred chank or more correctly Shankha shell, ''Turbinella pyrum''.

Another use of the word, the conch in architecture is used in the old sense, and refers to a mollusk shell from a different class,the Bivalvia, and which has a totally different shape, that of a scallop.

The true conch species within the genus ''Strombus'' vary in size from fairly small to very large. Several of the larger species are economically important as food sources; these include the endangered queen conch or pink conch ''Strombus gigas'', which very rarely may produce a pink, gem quality pearl.

About 74 species of the Strombidae family are living, and a much larger number of species exist only in the fossil record. Of the living species, most are in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Six species live in the greater Caribbean region, including the Queen Conch, and the West Indian Fighting Conch, ''Strombus pugilis''.

Many species of true conchs live on sandy bottoms among beds of sea grass in tropical waters.

Anatomy

Like almost all shelled gastropods, conches have spirally constructed shells. Again, as is normally the case in many gastropods, this spiral shell growth is usually right-handed, but on very rare occasions it can be left-handed.

True conches have long eye stalks, with colorful ring-marked eyes. The shell has a long and narrow aperture, and a short siphonal canal, with another indentation near the anterior end called a stromboid notch. This notch is where one of the two eye stalks protrudes from the shell.

The true conch has a foot ending in a pointed, sickle-shaped, operculum which can be dug into the substrate as part of an unusual ''leaping'' locomotion.

True conches grow a flared lip on their shells only upon reaching sexual maturity. Animals which are harvested by fishermen before they reach this stage are juveniles, and have not had a chance to reproduce.

Conches lay eggs in long, gelatinous strands

Human use

As food

Second in popularity only to the escargot for edible snails, the ''meat'' of the conch is used as food, either eaten raw, as in salads, or cooked, as in fritters, chowders, gumbos, and burgers. All parts of the conch meat are edible. However, some people find only the white meat appetizing.

In East Asian cuisines, this seafood is often cut into thin slices and then steamed or stir-fried.

In the Bahamas and the West Indies in general, local people eat conch in soups and salads. Restaurants all over the islands serve this particular meat.

In the island of Guam, the people eat it ''findened'', meaning soaked in soy sauce with vinegar or lemon with hot peppers.

In El Salvador, live conch is served in a cocktail of onion, tomato, cilantro, and lemon juice. Lemon juice is squeezed onto the cocktail, causing the conch to squirm, and then the whole thing is slurped down whole, as in the manner of oysters.

In Puerto Rico, conch is served as a ceviche: raw conch marinated in orange juice.

As musical instruments

Conch shells can be used as wind instruments, by cutting a small hole in the spire (or cutting off the tip of the spire) and then blowing into the shell as if it were a trumpet, as in blowing horn. For Hindu usage, see the section below on religion.

Conch shell trumpets were historically used throughout the South Pacific, in countries such as Fiji. In resorts in Fiji they still blow the shell as a performance for the tourists. The Fijians also used the conch shell when the chief died: the chief's body would be brought down a special path and the conch would be played until the chief's body reached the end of the path. Only the chief's body could go down that path.

The American jazz trombonist Steve Turre also plays conches, notably with his group Sanctified Shells.

A partially echoplexed Indian conch was featured prominently as the primary instrument depicting the extraterrestrial environment of the derelict spaceship in Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film ''Alien''. Director Ridley Scott was so impressed by the eerie effect that he requested its use throughout the rest of the score, including the ''Main Title''.

Composer John Cage has used partially water-filled conch shells, which, when tilted slowly, create gurgling sounds beyond the player's control, which are then amplified. This sound effect was used by James Horner in the film ''Troy'' and by Annea Lockwood in her compositions.

Pearls

Many gastropods (snails and sea snails, of which the conch is the latter) produce pearls, and those of the Queen Conch, ''Strombus gigas'', have been collectors' items since Victorian times. Conch pearls come in a range of hues, including white, brown and orange and many intermediate shades, but pink is the colour most associated with the conch pearl. Conch pearls are sometimes referred to simply as 'pink pearls'. In some gemmological texts, non-nacreous gastropod pearls used to be referred to as 'calcareous concretions' because they were 'porcellaneous' (i.e. shiny and ceramic-like) in appearance rather than 'nacreous' (i.e. with a pearly lustre sometimes known as 'orient'). However, Kenneth Scarrat, the director of GIA in Bangkok recently argued that conch calcareous concretions should be called 'pearls'. Under Federal Trade Commission rules, conch pearls may be referred to as 'pearls' without qualification.

Although non-nacreous, the surface of fine Conch pearls has a unique and attractive appearance of its own. The microstructure of conch pearls comprises partly-aligned bundles of microcrystalline fibres which create a shimmering, slightly iridescent effect known as 'flame structure'. The effect is a form of chatoyancy, caused by the interaction of light rays with the microcrystals in the pearl's surface, and it somewhat resembles Moiré silk.

Other uses

Religious use

The Hindu tradition

A ''Shankha'' shell (the shell of a ''Turbinella pyrum'', a species in the gastropod family ''Turbinellidae'') is often referred to in the West as a conch shell, or a chank shell. This shell is used as an important ritual object in Hinduism. The shell is used as a ceremonial trumpet, as part of religious practices, for example [[Puja (Hinduism)|

puja]]. The chank trumpet is sounded during worship at specific points, accompanied by ceremonial bells and singing.

In the story of Dhruva the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India blew conch shells to announce battle, as is described in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra, in the Mahabharata, the famous Hindu epic.

The god of Preservation, Vishnu, is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life, as it has come out of life-giving waters.

As it is an auspicious instrument, it is often played in a Lakshmi puja in temple or at home.

The Buddhist tradition

Buddhism has also incorporated the conch shell, as one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols.

Ancient Peru

In literature and in the oral tradition

William Golding's ''Lord of the Flies'' features frequent references to ''the Conch''. In the book the conch is used as a trumpet to call everyone together and held by whoever is speaking at meetings, symbolically representing democracy and order. When a boulder released by Roger, Jack's lieutenant, smashes the conch, it is a sign that civilized order has fully collapsed since Jack's eventual increasing influence.

The famous Old English riddle ''Ic wæs be Sonde'' describes a conch: ''I was by sound, near seawall, at ocean-stream; I dwelt alone in my first resting place. ... Little did I know that I, ere or since, ever should speak mouthless over mead-benches.'' Another meaning given to this riddle ‘Ic wæs be Sonde’ is that the sound of the conch corresponds to spiritualised sound as heard in higher realms. In the Hindu tradition, the conch shell is used in ceremony as the sound it makes is said to correspond with higher frequency universal sounds associated with music of the spheres.

In popular folklore, it is believed that if one holds an open conch shell (or any other large marine snail shell) to the ear, the ocean can be heard. This phenomenon is caused by the resonant cavity of the shell producing a form of pink noise from the surrounding background ambiance. In reality, the person is hearing their blood flow in the capillaries of their ears; the sound enters the shell and reverberates through the chambers before coming back. This sound can also be heard (though rather poorly) by covering one's ear with one's hand. The rushing sound is the flow of blood.