Conus arenatus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Salt & Pepper
cone, 37mm
Conus
arenatus is moderately
uncommon in sandy lagoon areas as well as in sand bottomed surge channels on
the seaward reef at depths of 5 to 20m. It lives buried just under the sand,
sometimes making trails in the sand as it moves around. Its shell is similar
in color to Conus pulicarius
and C. eburneus,
but it is usually smaller and the black dots are finer and more clustered.
The specimen below was found completely
buried in the sand with its proboscis extended into a rock that was also completely
buried in sand. Unfortunately, we could not tell what it was trying to eat,
but we suspect some kind of worm.
This shell is occupied by a hermit
crab.
Created 4 July 2009
Updated 12 March 2020
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