Shell · Genus
Melongena
Crown conchs
Crown conchs (Melongena corona) are brown-and-white banded snails with rows of spines around the shoulder, abundant in Florida mangroves and a favourite beach find. Florida law restricts collecting live shells in many counties (Lee County bans it), so take only dead shells. Fossil Melongena are known from the Miocene of Florida.
| Habitat | Mangroves and mudflats, Florida and Caribbean |
|---|---|
| Regions | Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean |
| Family | Melongenidae |
| Authority (WoRMS) | Schumacher, 1817· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
| Status (WoRMS) | accepted· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
| Classification (WoRMS) | Animalia › Mollusca › Gastropoda › Neogastropoda › Melongenidae· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
CITES and protection
Not CITES-listed; Florida limits recreational harvest of live shells.
Care (Byne's disease)
Stable.
Elsewhere
- WoRMS AphiaID: 205587
- Wikidata: Q667816
- WoRMS / MolluscaBase record
- Wikipedia: Melongena
- CITES Appendices
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Melongena" (Shell family). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/shells/melongena. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-melongena,
title = {Melongena},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/shells/melongena}},
year = {2026},
note = {Shell family article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, worms, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.