Session 3B: Quantifying the Benthic Habitat of Queen Conch (Lobatus gigas) in The Bahamas to Guide Conchservation

Marine populations are connected through larval exchange between otherwise isolated habitats. A network of marine protected areas connected by larval flow are a tool that can replenish and conserve threatened marine populations. However, before a network can be created, the most valuable habitats need to be identified for a given species. Queen Conch is an ecologically and economically and culturally important herbivorous marine gastropod. Conch has density dependent reproduction, patchy distributions, and populations which are in decline around the Caribbean. Therefore understanding how habitat shapes conch abundance is vital conserving them. Counts of conch abundance and habitat images were collected during surveys throughout the Bahamas. A set of ten random points were selected within each image of a representative subset. Habitat type at each point was classified into one seven predetermined types. The resulting set of geolocated and habitat-quantified tows will inform a model of conch density as predicted by habitat. This model will be used to determine candidate locations for protection and to better guide future survey