Aldana Aranda, D.

Enriquez, M.

Frenkiel, L.

Pruvost, L.

Zetina Zárate, A.

Aquatic Commons

 Proceedings of the 61st  Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute     November 10 - 14, 2008   Gosier, Guadeloupe, French West Indies 
Reproductive Cycle of the Queen Conch Strombus gigas L. 1758 in Guadeloupe FWI 
 
LILIANE FRENKIEL1, LAURENT PRUVOST2, ADRIANA ZETINA ZARATE3, 
MARTHA ENRIQUEZ3, and DALILA ALDANA ARANDA3 
1Archipel des Sciences, Lamentin, Guadeloupe FWI 
2Bois de Bragelone Saint François  Guadeloupe FWI 
3CINVESTAV IPN Unidad Merida, Yucatan, Mexico 
 
ABSTRACT 
The cycle of reproduction of Strombus gigas was established on the basis of samplings limited to 20 adults each month on the 
period of June 2006 to May 2007.  After some preliminary essays conducted from November 2005 to January 2006, with fishermen 
practicing 40 m deep net fishing or fishing in apnea between 18 and 24 m, all the samplings were carried out by skin diving beyond 
20 m in Guadeloupe.  The harvested individuals had all a lip thickness of at least 6mm.  The samplings during the fishing ban were 
carried out with a special authorization of the administration of fisheries of Guadeloupe.  This study shows a reproduction cycle 
including a long period of rest that begins in October followed by a proliferation without differentiation in February. From March, 
gametogenesis is more precocious for males than for female conchs.  Maturity begins for both sexes in May; it develops to a 
maximum from June to August and finishes in September by synchronous spawning. Partial spawns may occur only in August and 
September according to the presence of post spawn gonads at that time. It demonstrates that the fishing ban from February to 
September included is an absolute necessity to maintain a sustainable population of queen conch in Guadeloupe.  
 
KEY WORDS:  Queen conch, reproduction, Lesser Antilles 
 
Ciclo de Reproducción del Caracol Rosa,  Strombus gigas  L. 1758 en Guadalupe, FWI 
 
El ciclo de la reproducción de Strombus gigas fue establecido por muestreos limitados a 20 adultos por mes en el período de 
junio 2006 a mayo 2007.  Después de que algunos ensayos preliminares realizados de noviembre 2005 a enero 2006 con pescadores 
que practican la pesca en aguas profundas con red o pescan en la apnea entre 18 y 24 m, todos los muestreos fueron llevados a cabo 
con buceo libre a profundidades superiores a 20 m en la región al oeste de Guadalupe. Los individuos capturados tuvieron un 
espesor de labio superior a 6 mm.  Los muestreos durante el período de veda se llevaron a cabo con autorización especial de la 
administración de la pesquería de Guadalupe.  Este estudio muestra un ciclo de la reproducción con un período largo de descanso 
que empieza en octubre, seguido por una proliferación sin diferenciación en febrero. En marzo, la gametogenesis inicia, siendo más 
precoz para machos que para hembras.  La madurez empieza para ambos sexos en mayo; con un pico de junio a agosto, finalizando 
en septiembre por un desove sincrónico.  Desoves parciales puedan sucederse solamente durante los meses de agosto y septiembre.  
El estudio demuestra que la veda de pesca de febrero a septiembre incluidos es absolutamente imprescindible para mantener a una 
población sostenible de caracol rosado en Guadalupe.  
 
PALABRAS CLAVES:  Reproducción, Strombus gigas, caracol rosa  
 
Cycle de Reproduction du Lambi Strombus gigas L. 1758 en Guadeloupe, FWI 
 
Le cycle de reproduction de Strombus gigas a été établi sur la base de prélèvements limités à 20 adultes par mois sur la période 
de juin 2006 à mai 2007.  Après quelques essais préliminaires menés de novembre 2005 à janvier 2006, avec des marins pêcheurs 
pratiquant les uns la pêche au filet à 40 m et les autres la pêche en apnée entre 18 et 24 m, tous les prélèvements ont été effectués en 
apnée au-delà de 20 m dans la région est de la Grande Terre.  Les individus récoltés avaient tous un pavillon épais d’au moins 6mm.  
Les prélèvements durant la période d’interdiction de pêche ont été effectués avec une autorisation spéciale de l’administration des 
pêches de Guadeloupe.  
Cette étude montre un cycle de reproduction qui comporte une longue période de repos qui commence en octobre suivie d’une 
prolifération sans différenciation à partir de février.  A partir de mars on observe une gamétogenèse active plus précoce chez les 
mâles que chez les femelles.  La maturité débute pour les deux sexes en Mai; elle est maximale de Juin à Août et se termine en 
Septembre par des pontes synchrones.  Des pontes partielles ont lieu seulement en Août et Septembre compte tenu de l’existence de 
gonades résiduelles limitée à ces deux mois.  Elle montre également que la saison d’interdiction de pêche de février à septembre 
inclus est une nécessité absolue pour le maintient de la ressource.  
 
MOTS CLÉS:  Reproduction, Strombus gigas, lambi 
INTRODUCTION 
Queen conch is a very popular staple food in the 
French Caribbean islands, Guadeloupe and Martinique. In 
Guadeloupe, the shallow water populations of Strombus 
gigas have been severely depleted and juveniles have been 
collected during years even with a regulation forbidding 
this practice.  Several restrictions have been implemented 
to protect this endangered species.  
The queen conch fishery is now submitted to an eight 
month fishing ban from February to September included 
and during four months, fishing is reserved to professional 
fishermen.  Fishing by diving with air tanks is strictly 
forbidden, as well as collecting and selling juveniles.  
However poaching is a permanent plague. 
Skin diving has to be performed down to 20m deep to 
collect adult conchs.  Nowadays, most adult conchs are 
  Frenkiel, L. et al.     GCFI:61   (2009)       Page 519 
 
fished by a specific net called “folle à lambis” down to 
more than 40 m, exploiting populations which constituted a 
reproductive stock protected by depth a few years ago in 
most queen conch fishing areas.  
Given the regional importance of Strombus gigas in 
the Caribbean, and the critical state of some of its popula-
tions, the dynamics and reproductive biology of this 
species have been studied in various countries (McCarthy 
et al. 2002, Aldana Aranda et al. 2003, Delgado et al. 
2004, Castro et al. 2005, Aldana and Frenkiel 2006). 
However, nothing has been published about the dynamics 
and reproductive biology of queen conch in the French 
Caribbean Islands.  
The goal of this study was to analyze the gonadic cycle 
of S.gigas in Guadeloupe to adjust better the fishing ban to 
protect the reproducing population which practices 
spawning aggregations and to compare this cycle with 
those observed in other sites of the Caribbean.  
 
MATERIAL AND METHODS 
Queen conchs were collected by skin diving around 20 
m deep off the small island “Désirade” located at the most 
eastern point of Guadeloupe.  All specimens were adults 
with a shell lip thicker than 6 mm.  The gonad is located at 
the surface of visceral hump, surrounding the digestive 
gland.  It has a red to orange color for males and white for 
females.  A sample of 20 individuals was analyzed 
monthly, first during the fishing season from October to 
February, and thereafter, for a whole year from June to 
May with a special permit issued by the fisheries authori-
ties of Guadeloupe.  
A transverse slice was cut from the visceral hump and 
fixed in 10% formalin in seawater.  Tissue slices with the 
digestive gland and the connective tissue containing the 
gonad, were then processed for histology.  Sections, 5µm 
thick, were stained with a trichrome method (Gabe 1968).  
 
RESULTS 
Four gonad development stages similar to those used 
for other ranking for Strombus gigas populations of various 
sites in the Caribbean were defined:  
i) Undifferentiated ― encompasses rest stage 
with very small patches of gonad interspersed 
with connective tissue, and proliferation stage 
without differentiation.  
ii) Gametogenesis ― includes all the stages 
from the first differentiation of gonads that 
may be identified as male or female. For 
males, this stage is considered to go on from 
the first stages of spermatogenesis up to the 
production of atypical spermatozoa. For 
females this stage includes previtellogenesis 
and vitellogenesis up to large oocytes.  
iii) Maturity and spawning ― characterized by the 
presence of typical spermatozoa for males and 
large  oocytes full of vitelline platelets for 
females.  For males, the presence of a large 
deferent canal full of typical and atypical sper-
matozoa is even a better marker of maturity. For 
females it is more difficult to be sure of the 
spawning process.  Mature oocytes may be 
spawned altogether at the end of period of 
maturity or several times during the reproduction 
period. 
iv) Post-spawn ― corresponds to empty gonads with 
sex still identified. A significant proportion of this 
stage is a proof of recent spawning. In male, 
empty gonad and empty deferent duct constitute a 
good characterization. 
 
All these stages cumulated give the population status 
as regard to the reproduction pattern.  
From October to January, all the gonads are undiffer-
entiated and occupy a very small part of the connective 
tissue.  In February gonadic tubules increase in volume but 
without differentiation.  
From March, it is possible to identify male and female 
gonads and some males are even mature.  
The real conditions for spawning develop in May with 
almost 90% of the male sample being in gametogenesis or 
ripe.  This situation goes on in July. Twenty percent of the 
sample being in postspawn stage in August and much more 
in September demonstrate that spawning is significative 
only in August and September.  September is the last 
month of spawning.  
For females, the reproductive pattern is quite similar 
but oogenesis begins a little later, in April.  Maturation is 
synchronous from May to August.  In September there are 
more mature females than males which encompasses 
properly the opportunity of mating and fertilization.  
 
DISCUSSION  
In Guadeloupe. the gonadic cycle is designed in two 
main phases, with a long rest and a progressive maturation 
up to late spawning.  During six months, there is really no 
opportunity of spawning, but from May to September the 
opportunity of spawning is really high with a maximum 
from May to August with the total of gametogenesis and 
maturity averaging 90% of the sample.  
Post-spawn gonads are really important only in August 
and September, demonstrating a short period of spawning, 
but for the whole population.  
We may compare this situation with those observed in 
three distant populations: Alacranes reef, Gulf of Mexico, 
South of the Yucatan peninsula at Boca Chica Belize, and 
the San Andrès Archipelago (Colombia).  Those three 
populations are characterized by a continuous gametogene-
sis throughout the year.  In Alacranes, frequent spawnings 
are possible, even with a low proportion of mature gonads. 
 Page 520   61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute  
 
In Belize, the opportunity of spawning was observed all the 
year round.  In San Andrès, the situation is more worrying 
as the proportion of undifferentiated gonads is much 
higher, and the proportion of mature gonads very low (less 
than 10%) all the year round.  
 
CONCLUSION 
The reason of such various conditions is still unclear. 
Therefore, it is important to monitor reproductive cycle 
over several years and localities, making emphasis on 
environmental factors that may influence the gonad 
development and spawning periods.  Such information is 
useful for an efficient management of the S. gigas popula-
tions based on reproductive activity around the Caribbean 
sea. 
Meanwhile, the seasonal ban applied in Guadeloupe 
from February to September inclusive appears well adapted 
to protect the reproduction period of queen conch.  
However, some information about population density is 
mandatory to have a sound knowledge of the opportunity 
of mating related to the density of populations. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
Thanks to the Ichthyology laboratory of CINVESTAV-IPN, 
Mérida for its support for histology processing. Grants from DIREN 
Guadeloupe, Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC), CAR-
Spaw, and CONACYT- SEP 2005 “Variacion espacio del patron 
reproductivo del Caracol rosa, S. gigas en differentes habitats y su modelo 
biofisico de connectividad para el Caribe”.  
 
LITERATURE CITED 
Aldana Aranda, D., E. Baqueiro Cárdenas, I. Martines Morales, R.I. 
Ochoa, and T. Brulé.  2003a.  Reproductive Patterns of Strombus 
gigas from Alacranes Reef versus Chinchorro Bank of México. 
Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 54:202-
225. 
Aldana Aranda, D.,  E. Baqueiro Cardenas, I. Martinez Morales, R.I. 
Ochoa, and T. Brulé.  2003a.  Gonad behavior during peak 
reproduction period of Strombus gigas from Banco Chinchorro. 
Bulletin of Marine Science 73:241-248. 
Aldana-Aranda, D., E.R. Baqueiro-Cárdenas, I. Martínez-Morales, A. 
Zetina-Zarate, and T. Brulé.  2003b.  A review of the reproductive 
patterns of gastropods mollusks from Mexico. Bulletin of Marine 
Science 73:629-641.  
Aldana Aranda, D. and L. Frenkiel.  2007.  Lip thickness of Strombus 
gigas, Mollusca Gastropoda versus maturity: a management 
measure. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 
58:431-442. 
Castro, E., L. Frenkiel, E. Baqueiro, and D. Aldana Aranda.  2007.  
Atypical reproductive cycle of the queen conch Strombus gigas 
(Mollusca: Gastropoda). Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean 
Fisheries Institute 58:445-450. 
Delgado, G.A., C.T. Bartels, R.A. Glazer, N.J. Brown-Peterson, and K.J. 
McCarthy.  2004.  Translocation as a strategy to rehabilitate the 
queen conch (Strombus gigas) population in the Florida Keys. 
Fishery Bulletin 102:278-288. 
McCarthy K.J., C.T. Bartels, M.C. Darcy, G.A. Delgado, and R.A. Glazer.  
2002.  Preliminary observation of reproductive failure in nearshore 
queen conch, Strombus gigas in the Florida Keys Proceedings of the 
Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 53:674-680. 
 


Reproductive cycle of the Queen Conch Strombus gigas L. 1758 in Guadeloupe FWI

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Reproductive cycle of the Queen Conch Strombus gigas L. 1758 in Guadeloupe FWI

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