what is this?

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 06:19 PM

Ok, i took this photo this morning but lastnight my two fighting conches were in the center of this moon shape in the sand. However lastnight this wasnt that big and yesterday it wasnt even there. I took the pictures to my LFS and asked him and he thinks that the conches had mated and this could be the eggs. Would love to know what some of you all think.

monkeyman14554 · 11/14/2011, 06:36 PM

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...Cz7dz6C1mZ3nBk

monkeyman14554 · 11/14/2011, 06:39 PM

http://www.mbl.edu/marine_org/images...con.eggs.3.jpg

monkeyman14554 · 11/14/2011, 06:42 PM

they are def eggs... they will hatch in 3 to 5 days.. if you dont want it send it to me i wonder if they are fertile... looks like you are in the snail farming bussiness... if you got some macro and a spare tank it might be worth your time ...

BLKTANG · 11/14/2011, 06:44 PM

did you touch it?Looks like sometin burried in the sand.Use tongs or somthing.

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 06:46 PM

No i did touch it and my LFS has already told me he would buy them if it was eggs. This is so cool. ill try and take a few more pictures that are clearer.

monkeyman14554 · 11/14/2011, 06:48 PM

Anatomy and Reproduction of the Queen Conch

Order:Sorbeoconcha
Family:Strombidae
Genus: Strombus
The queen conch is protected by a spiral shell that is lined in pink. They can 'lock' themselves in their shell by pulling a horny claw in to seal the opening. This claw is called the operculum, and is also used in locomotion, this is known as the Stromboid leap. The pointed operculum is anchored in the sand and then used to pull the conch forward. The queen conch has two eyes, on the end of eyestalks, and two sensory tentacles, also located on the eye stalks. These can all be retracted, along with the tube-like mouth, called a proboscis into the shell if the conch is threatened.

It takes up to 3 to 5 years for the queen conch to reach sexual maturity. Once maturity is reached the mating will take place; the males have a verge which will deposit spermatozoa at the entrance of the egg groove. The female will use the sperm to fertilise the eggs later and will lay an egg mass which can contain up to 400,000 eggs.

Life Cycle of the Queen Conch

There are 8 stages in the life cycle of the conch:

Benthic Eggs: Crescent in shape and camouflaged on the seafloor by a coating of sand grains. Ready to hatch in 3–5 days.
Newly Hatched Veliger: The newly hatched conch, know as veligers have lobes on them, the purpose of which is to supply the veliger with oxygen and obtain food, in the form of microscopic algae from the water column in which it floats.
Four Lobed Veliger: As the veliger increase in size it grows more lobes to supply it with oxygen and food.
Six Lobed Veliger: By 21–30 days the veliger will have 6 lobes and will be ready metamorphose and enter the benthic stage of the life cycle.
Post larva: The conch now resembles the adult form although it is only 1 mm long. Ctendium (gills) have elongated during metamorphosis to take over the job of respiration. They also have a proboscis that they will use for feeding, and the operculum has started to form. The conch will settle, instead of floating in the water column, in shallow seagrass beds or sand flats. The change in environment will be sensed and the final stage of metamorphosis, to lose the lobes, will take place.
Infaunal Juvenile: At this stage the conch is between 5 and 10 months old and up to 60 mm in length. At this stage the juvenile conch will live buried under the sand it settled in.
Epifaunal Juvenile: The conch is now 1 to 3 years in age and can be 180 mm in length. They will emerge from their nursery habitat and start to migrate to deeper waters in search of food. Conch feed on algae and bacteria on seaweed.
Adult: The conch is now about 3 to 5 years old and is sexually mature. As an adult the conch will no longer increase in size but it will form the 'lip' that identifies it as an adult. For the remainder of its life the conch will add shell to this 'lip'.
There is currently only one well established commercial queen conch fishery. It is based in Turks and Caicos, and has been in operation since 1984. According to the Conch Heritage Network, research is underway in the United States, Mexico and Guadaloupe, with the aim of developing successful breeding techniques for queen conch in captivity to help replenish the oceans. Here at the Queen Conch Ranch we are trying to do our part as well.

monkeyman14554 · 11/14/2011, 06:50 PM

grr after a little research not sure a macro tank with a sand bed would do it... but it would be worth a try keeping the water flow way down or just an airstone

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 07:20 PM

i could move it to the sump. my qt is in use right now.

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 09:55 PM

Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon.

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 10:00 PM

Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon.

rcmania · 11/14/2011, 10:20 PM

Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon.

11/14/2011, 06:44 PM	#5
BLKTANG Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Never,Never Land Posts: 7,061	did you touch it?Looks like sometin burried in the sand.Use tongs or somthing. __________________ We the few have done so much,for so long,for so little.That we are now qualified to do anything with nothing. ____________________________________________________________________________ Current Tank Info: RR 90 Maganvore sump,250w Hamilton fixture,VorTec's ASM skimmer.

11/14/2011, 06:46 PM	#6
rcmania Im So Confused! Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 439	No i did touch it and my LFS has already told me he would buy them if it was eggs. This is so cool. ill try and take a few more pictures that are clearer. __________________ Roll Tide! Current Tank Info: 220G Tall DSB SPS DT/3 Sol Blue/ 75 Gallon Sump in basement with Reeflo return/ 2 Mp40W/ Profilux Controller. 65G QT

11/14/2011, 09:55 PM	#10
rcmania Im So Confused! Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 439	Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon. __________________ Roll Tide! Current Tank Info: 220G Tall DSB SPS DT/3 Sol Blue/ 75 Gallon Sump in basement with Reeflo return/ 2 Mp40W/ Profilux Controller. 65G QT

11/14/2011, 10:00 PM	#11
rcmania Im So Confused! Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 439	Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon. __________________ Roll Tide! Current Tank Info: 220G Tall DSB SPS DT/3 Sol Blue/ 75 Gallon Sump in basement with Reeflo return/ 2 Mp40W/ Profilux Controller. 65G QT

11/14/2011, 10:20 PM	#12
rcmania Im So Confused! Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 439	Ok, i placed it in a container with a lid that has tiny holes in it. There is hardly any flow but some. I placed it in the bottom of the tank. Now that i had pulled it out and took a closer look, it appears that the entire thing is made of sand. It is pretty stiff also. Im not so sure it is eggs now but ill play it safe and we should find out soon. __________________ Roll Tide! Current Tank Info: 220G Tall DSB SPS DT/3 Sol Blue/ 75 Gallon Sump in basement with Reeflo return/ 2 Mp40W/ Profilux Controller. 65G QT

11/14/2011, 06:36 PM	#2
monkeyman14554 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: batavia NY 14020 Posts: 126	http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...Cz7dz6C1mZ3nBk

11/14/2011, 06:39 PM	#3
monkeyman14554 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: batavia NY 14020 Posts: 126	http://www.mbl.edu/marine_org/images...con.eggs.3.jpg

11/14/2011, 06:42 PM	#4
monkeyman14554 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: batavia NY 14020 Posts: 126	they are def eggs... they will hatch in 3 to 5 days.. if you dont want it send it to me i wonder if they are fertile... looks like you are in the snail farming bussiness... if you got some macro and a spare tank it might be worth your time ...

11/14/2011, 06:48 PM	#7
monkeyman14554 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: batavia NY 14020 Posts: 126	Anatomy and Reproduction of the Queen Conch Order:Sorbeoconcha Family:Strombidae Genus: Strombus The queen conch is protected by a spiral shell that is lined in pink. They can 'lock' themselves in their shell by pulling a horny claw in to seal the opening. This claw is called the operculum, and is also used in locomotion, this is known as the Stromboid leap. The pointed operculum is anchored in the sand and then used to pull the conch forward. The queen conch has two eyes, on the end of eyestalks, and two sensory tentacles, also located on the eye stalks. These can all be retracted, along with the tube-like mouth, called a proboscis into the shell if the conch is threatened. It takes up to 3 to 5 years for the queen conch to reach sexual maturity. Once maturity is reached the mating will take place; the males have a verge which will deposit spermatozoa at the entrance of the egg groove. The female will use the sperm to fertilise the eggs later and will lay an egg mass which can contain up to 400,000 eggs. Life Cycle of the Queen Conch There are 8 stages in the life cycle of the conch: Benthic Eggs: Crescent in shape and camouflaged on the seafloor by a coating of sand grains. Ready to hatch in 3–5 days. Newly Hatched Veliger: The newly hatched conch, know as veligers have lobes on them, the purpose of which is to supply the veliger with oxygen and obtain food, in the form of microscopic algae from the water column in which it floats. Four Lobed Veliger: As the veliger increase in size it grows more lobes to supply it with oxygen and food. Six Lobed Veliger: By 21–30 days the veliger will have 6 lobes and will be ready metamorphose and enter the benthic stage of the life cycle. Post larva: The conch now resembles the adult form although it is only 1 mm long. Ctendium (gills) have elongated during metamorphosis to take over the job of respiration. They also have a proboscis that they will use for feeding, and the operculum has started to form. The conch will settle, instead of floating in the water column, in shallow seagrass beds or sand flats. The change in environment will be sensed and the final stage of metamorphosis, to lose the lobes, will take place. Infaunal Juvenile: At this stage the conch is between 5 and 10 months old and up to 60 mm in length. At this stage the juvenile conch will live buried under the sand it settled in. Epifaunal Juvenile: The conch is now 1 to 3 years in age and can be 180 mm in length. They will emerge from their nursery habitat and start to migrate to deeper waters in search of food. Conch feed on algae and bacteria on seaweed. Adult: The conch is now about 3 to 5 years old and is sexually mature. As an adult the conch will no longer increase in size but it will form the 'lip' that identifies it as an adult. For the remainder of its life the conch will add shell to this 'lip'. There is currently only one well established commercial queen conch fishery. It is based in Turks and Caicos, and has been in operation since 1984. According to the Conch Heritage Network, research is underway in the United States, Mexico and Guadaloupe, with the aim of developing successful breeding techniques for queen conch in captivity to help replenish the oceans. Here at the Queen Conch Ranch we are trying to do our part as well.

11/14/2011, 06:50 PM	#8
monkeyman14554 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: batavia NY 14020 Posts: 126	grr after a little research not sure a macro tank with a sand bed would do it... but it would be worth a try keeping the water flow way down or just an airstone