FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 2 



The habitat of the juvenile queen conch in our 

 study area consisted of a large shallow plain sur- 

 rounded by deep offshore waters. With a few ex- 

 ceptions, large adults were found in these deep areas 

 and channels. 



METHODS AND MATERIALS 



Collections and observations were made at sta- 

 tions on adjacent cays: Little Whale Cay, Whale 

 Cay, Vigilant Cay, Little Cockroach Cay, Bird Cay, 

 Cat Cay, and Frazer's Hog Cay (Chub Cay) (Fig. 1). 

 Twenty-three field trips were made to the Berry 

 Islands from February 1980 through February 1983, 

 each lasting 4-5 days. 



The two methods used to obtain growth estimates 

 were tagging-recapture and size-frequency analysis 

 (Cassie 1954). After trying several different tags for 

 conchs, we found that a thin plastic tag measuring 

 9.5 X 22.3 mm, obtained from the Floy^ Tag Co. 



'Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



(Seattle, WA) was satisfactory. It was easily seen 

 and suitable for even the small (ca 2-3 cm) conchs 

 we tagged. A spot on the spire of conchs to be 

 tagged was cleaned and dried, and the tag was 

 affixed with underwater epoxy. We found these tags 

 remained on wild conchs for about 2 years with in- 

 dications of only a few being shed, of the 2,775 

 conchs we tagged and released at the sites men- 

 tioned above. 



For growth estimates we measured queen conchs 

 to the nearest mm along the anterior-posterior axis 

 using a measuring board. Significant differences in 

 growth rates of tagged conchs among cays and size 

 classes were tested by analysis of variance. A 

 Student-Neuman-Keuls test was used to detect sig- 

 nificant differences. Differences were considered 

 significant for all statistical tests at the P = 0.05 

 level. Mean values include 95% confidence inter- 

 vals. 



We derived whole animal weight-shell length rela- 

 tionships for queen conchs by measuring whole 

 animal weight after removing conchs from their 

 shells. We then removed everything but the foot to 



2QO, 1- 



N 



27' 



26" 



25'»- 



24" 



23' 



\J>^ 



Freeport , 



'Miami iBimini „ '•>,. 



Berry ' 



\ Islands p^ 



BERRY ISLANDS 



Little Cockroacti 

 • Coy 



Cockroach 

 Cay 



V 



Bond s Cay 

 Channel 

 Little Whaie J, 



Coy "^Whaie Coy 



FRAZERS HOGfy . '^'^'^"n^v'l 



/ Frazers ^aj ^ 



• ^°^ rot 



'Channel ^ 



Coy 



Channel 



WHALE 

 CAY 



Scale- 



km 



ANDROS 



Nassau 



eO'W 79" 78° 77° 76° 75° 74° 



Figure 1.— Location of study site. 



300 



