Conus pulcher

Conus pulcher, common name the butterfly cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.^[2]

Conus pulcher
A shell of Conus pulcher
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. pulcher
Binomial name
Conus pulcher [Lightfoot], 1786[1]
Synonyms[2]
Conus (Kalloconus) pulcher [Lightfoot], 1786 accepted, alternate representation Conus archithalassius Link, 1807 Conus bicolor G. B. Sowerby I, 1833 (May) (invalid: junior homonym of Conus bicolor G.B. Sowerby I, 1833 [March]) Conus breviculus G. B. Sowerby II, 1833 Conus fluctifer Dillwyn, 1817 Conus grandis G. B. Sowerby I, 1823 Conus leoninus Gmelin, 1791 (invalid: junior homonym of Conus leoninus [Lightfoot], 1786) Conus nicolii Wilson, 1831 Conus papilionaceus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 Conus papillaris G. B. Sowerby I, 1833 Conus prometheus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 Conus pulcher pulcher [Lightfoot], 1786 Cucullus achatinus Röding, 1798 (nomen dubium) Cucullus indiae Röding, 1798 Kalloconus pulcher ([Lightfoot], 1786) Kalloconus pulcher pulcher ([Lightfoot], 1786)

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of stinging humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

There is one subspecies : Conus pulcher siamensis Hwass in Bruguière, 1792

A Shell of albinistic and of regular colour, both with periostracum.

According to Bernard, experts do not agree on the identity of this cone and therefore it seemed better to separate it into two varieties, according to their habitat. Bernard thus mentions two Conus pulcher varieties: C. pulcher f. papilionaceus (Lightfoot, 1786) and C. pulcher f. prometheus (Lightfoot, 1786)

Description

The size of the shell varies between 40 mm and 260 mm. This is the largest of the cone snails. The shell is narrow and rather thin. It is longitudinally finally striate. The acuminate spire is sulcate. The color of the shell is variable white to cream, variegated with numerous lines of short dashes and spots of light to darker chestnut.^[3]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off (Guinea, Senegal, Angola)