Order Littorinimorpha
Family Strombidae (the true conchs = gastropods)
Genus Sinustrombus [formerly in genus Strombus and subgenus Tricornis].
Species latissimus Linnaeus, 1758
There are many hybrids (varieties) of this marine-gastropod species.
Two views (apertural and abapertural) of a representative specimen (7 inches in length and 4.75 inches in width). The backside of this shell shows the effects of color bleaching by the sun. Also, notice the presence of many minute drill-holes in the shell; these are cause by sponges that lived on the "top" of the shell. This species lives in tropical waters (e.g., the Philippines, where people commonly use this gastropod as part of their diet).
For its size, the shell of this species is one of the heaviest that I have even handled!
The solidness of its shell allows this species to live in extremely turbulent waters and/or has some formidable predators!
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