Conus distans Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Distant cone, 116mm

Conus distans is one of the most abundant large cone shells and lives in a variety of atoll habitats. It is common on hard intertidal reef flats as well as on both lagoon and seaward reefs. It is usually exposed on hard substrates both day and night.

An unusually active specimen during the day.

Now we see it was in the process of depositing egg capsules onto a rock in an algae patch.

With its egg capsules.

While the adult is mostly brown with traces of banding, the juveniles, such as the one below, have a more intricate pattern of wihte marks on a brown background. The "spines" on the shell are actually just tufts of the periostracum that covers the shell.

Another with eggs.

Adult shell.

Juvenile.

Created 4 July 2009
Updated 12 March 2020

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