Conus bandanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Banded marble cone,
102mm
We
know Conus bandanus has long been considered by many to be a
variation of the very similar Conus
marmoreus, but we believe it distinctly differs both in its shell and
its habitat. On the shell, there are two irregular spiral bands of smaller-sized
light triangular markings while C. marmoreus has no such bands. Also,
in C. marmoreus the tent markings are pure white (after the shell's
periostracum is removed), while in C. bandanus, they have a tint of
orange. To a field observer who has seen many specimens of both, the habitat
differences are very distinctive. C. marmoreus is found almost exclusively
in sand while C. bandanus is nearly always on a hard rocky substrate.
We see C. bandanus nearly always on lagoon pinnacles and the seaward
reef, while C. marmoreus is far more common along lagoon interisland
reefs. The first photo shows a large specimen, and the next two successively
smaller ones.
The specimen above was found on
Kwajalein's seaward reef and brought into the lagoon to place with a C.
marmoreus (left). I was hoping both animals would expose themselves, but
the C. marmoreus was not in a mood to cooperate.
Created 4 July 2009
Updated 12 March 2020
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