Strombus is a
genus of medium to large
sea snails,
marine gastropod molluscs in the
family Strombidae, which comprises the true conchs and their immediate relatives. The genus
Strombus was named by Swedish Naturalist
Carl Linnaeus in 1758. There were around 50 living species recognized, which vary in size from fairly small to very large. Six species live in the greater
Caribbean region, including the queen conch,
Strombus gigas (now usually known as
Eustrombus gigas or
Lobatus gigas), and the West Indian fighting conch,
Strombus pugilis. However, since 2006, many species have been assigned to discrete genera. These new genera are however not yet found in most textbooks and collector's guides.