I just got back from the Bahamas, where we went conching.
During the process of separating the animals from their
shells, our Bahamian guide pulled out a clear stringy
thing he called the "pistil" [my spelling], which he
dipped in sea water and ate.  He says it's a tradition,
so of course I ate one too.  I'm trying to find out
what part of the animal it was. I've searched a lot of
'net sites, and I can't find any detailed anatomy of
conches.
 
Also, can anyone recommend a good resource for identifying
the species of conch I got?  I still have the shell, but I
know that getting a genus and species is a long shot.
 
Thanks.
 
Peter