My understanding based on a fair amount of reading is that Strombus alatus is strictly a herbivore, although some commercial sites list it as an omnivore. The real problem here is that you may have been sold another type of gastropod as S. alatus, a common practice. Photos of S. alatus at http://www.gastropods.com/9/Shell_1329.html, a list of conch species at http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Group_Conch.html. It is also important to note that many whelks resemble conchs, and whelks are often predacious omnivores. Often, collectors and wholesalers don't take the time to identify animals they collect/receive, and ship them to retailers under a presumed name. One needs to be vigilant when purchasing animals prone to this practice, such as conchs.
Also see:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=conch-l
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/
__________________
-Quinn
Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
|