Hi Jeff, welcome aboard!!
That thing is the male genitalia of the strombus gigas or "pink conch" (also known as the queen conch). Though they say it's
an "aphrodisiac" I have yet to find a study to show that anything other then a  VISA card with an open credit limit has much
effect on making a man a better "lover" . I would fathom to guess that the whole practice of eating the before mentioned
matter came about from a dare of sort, " Hey Mon, bet you can't eat Dat thing!!!" and someone did.
As usual a disclaimer must follow as the world is all Politically compliant, reference to the word "mon" or "dat" is simply
expressing the type of phase, dialect or tone most likely used and is in no way to be taken as a direct , indirect ,
backhanded, front lobbed or otherwise evil sounding expression. The management of the ferret do not stand behind his
commentary nor in front of it as we sort of hide in the shadows and pounce on unsuspecting defendants. Weasel Inc. 2000
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Schodorf <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, January 06, 2000 2:58 PM
Subject: anatomy question


|Hello,  I am a new member to this mailing list.  I don't
|really know that much about conchs.  The main reason
|I joined this list is to learn the answer to the following
|question:
|
|While I was in the Bahamas recently I noticed that
|the fishermen who were extracting and cleaning the
|conchs from their shells were pulling this "thing" out
|of the conch and eating it raw.  The thing was cylindrical
|with the diameter of a piece of wire, and about 6 inches
|long.  It appeared to be relatively clear, perhaps a little
|yellowish.  When I asked them what it was they just
|smiled and said it was an aphrodisiac... so what is this
|"thing?"
|
|Thanks!
|
|--Jeff
|
|Jeff Schodorf
|MIT Lincoln Laboratory
|244 Wood St.
|Lexington, MA  02420
|