The conch was found feeding mostly by consuming the thin uppermost
layer of surface sediments, followed by the epiphytes, detritus and others
(Table 1; Fig.4). Direct consumption of seagrass leaves or seaweed was
never observed, both in field as well as in laboratory culture experiment.
Sample of a Thalassia hemprichii blade that was freshly grazed by the
conch was analyzed and presented in Figure 5. During probing and
feeding activity the proboscis can be greatly extended to more than half
of the conch’s body length. They used their proboscis actively, probing
and examining the sediment, and extracting small food items from the
sand particles and quickly expelling unpalatable item. They are not like
true deposit feeders, which consume the sediments indiscriminately.