Conus gloriamaris Chemnitz, 1777
Glory of the Seas cone, ~120mm

Conus gloriamaris is one of the most famous of the cone shells. For a long time, it was a great rarity and commanded high prices. After its habitat in the Solomon Islands was discovered, it began to turn up in similar environments in other areas, or be brought up by trawling from deeper waters. In the Solomons, we saw several specimens on muddy slopes around Guadalcanal at Kakambona and near the mouth of the Lungga River. Off the river, they were buried around the edges of tree trunks that had floated out the river and sunk on the muddy slope. We saw a pair there inside a concrete pipe laying on the slope. At Kakambona, they were in the muddy sand usually under piles of accumulated trash at depths of 15 to 30m. One pair was buried in the mud under the side of an old oil drum.

Created 22 September 2013

Return to miscellaneous cones

Kwajalein Underwater home