Volume 69
Repeated Surveys of Queen Conch (Lobatus gigas) in The Bahamas Show Population Declines and a Morphometric Shift Towards Smaller Sizes
Authors
Kough, A.S., and A.W. Stoner Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2016
Pages: 260 - 262
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Grand Cayman
Country: Cayman Islands
Abstract
The queen conch is a valuable and easy to harvest denizen of Caribbean benthic marine ecosystems, leading to population declines in many locations. In response, fishery regulations have been instituted in some nations, often designed to temper harvest by ensuring that only mature adults are harvested. Conch aggregate in shallow water sites during the reproductive season and shell lip thickness is a relative indicator of age (Appeldoorn 1988, Stoner et al. 2012a). Predictable shell growth and aggregation patterns facilitate the assessment of population density, size, and age structure in tandem over large areas.