Nevertheless, fishermen and divers can easily
distinguish S. gigas from other snails by its distinctive
"hook" or "claw," the horny curved operculum
attached to the animal's foot. All conchs are
vegetarians, eating essentially algaes, and the
Queen conch is one of the largest of the herbivorous
gastropods (Brownell and Stevely, 1981).
Unlike most mollusk, the Queen conch snail
moves in a unique "hopping" style (Fleming, 1982))
pushing very hard on its foot to raise its heavy
shell, and then letting itself fall forward, laboriously
gaining about half a body length.