Threats
Compared to adults, juvenile spider conchs are at greater risk to predation from animals such as animals such as crabs, hermit crabs, fishes, octopuses and many molluscs (Walls 1980). This is because their still developing shells offer less protection to their soft bodies.
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Throughout many regions in the Indo-West Pacific, strombid gastropods are considered a valuable resource (The Living Marine Resources of the Western Pacific 1998). Their meat is edible and is often fried with chilli (Hermosilia & Narido 2007). Their decorative shells are highly sought after by shell collectors and therefore play a large role in the shell trade. All specimens are harvested directly from the wild, so intense removal of reproducing adults from certain areas could cause local population declines.
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Figure 1: Spider conch shells for shell trade. |
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