Strombus gigas
- noun
- Specialized
:
Strombus gigas
- Overfishing has led to a decline in Strombus gigas populations in the Caribbean.
Examples
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The shell of the Strombus gigas is often used to make jewelry and decorative items.
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The Strombus gigas is often found in shallow waters.
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Many divers travel to the Bahamas to observe the beautiful Strombus gigas in its natural habitat.
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Look at that Strombus gigas shell on the beach!
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Many divers travel to the Bahamas to observe the beautiful Strombus gigas in its natural habitat.
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Overfishing has led to a decline in Strombus gigas populations in the Caribbean.
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The shell of the Strombus gigas is often used to make jewelry and decorative items.
Synonyms
16
6.8
A large sea snail with a bright spiral shell found in warm seas
A large sea snail with a spiral shell people collect and sometimes eat
Surface Forms
Morphology
Strombus + gigas
The phrase is a Latin binomial (genus + species), so a learner who knows the constituents would recognize it as a scientific species name and infer something about size if they know 'gigas' means 'giant'. However, the specific referent 'queen conch' and its habitat/appearance are specialized biological knowledge not predictable from the components alone, so the meaning is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Strombus gigas may come from old Greek words: Strombus meaning 'turning' and gigas meaning 'giant'. So the name gives the image of a giant, spiral shell — the large sea snail we know as the queen conch.