Conus excelsus

Conus excelsus, common name the excelsior cone or the illustrious cone, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails.[1]

Conus excelsus
The shell of Conus excelsus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species:
C. excelsus
Binomial name
Conus excelsus
Synonyms[1]
  • Asprella tannaensis Cotton, 1945
  • Conus pulcherrimus Brazier, 1894 (invalid: junior homonym of Conus pulcherrimus Heilprin, 1879)
  • Conus (Turriconus) excelsus G. B. Sowerby III, 1908 · accepted, alternate representation
  • Kenyonia pulcherrima Brazier, 1896
  • Turriconus excelsus (G. B. Sowerby III, 1908)
  • Turriconus nakayasui Shikama & Habe, 1968

Shell description

The shell has a very high spire, with a size varying between 28 mm and 102 mm, compared to most cone shells, and thus it is exceptionally long relative to its width. This, combined with its overall rarity, makes it desirable to shell collectors.

The shell coloration consists of orangish to yellow patterns against a white background.

Distribution

Conus excelsus is an Indo-Pacific species found principally around the Philippines, but also as north as southern Japan and as far east as New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. it also occurs off Queensland, Australia[2]

The species is rare but not endangered.

References
  1. Bouchet, P. (2015). Conus excelsus G. B. Sowerby III, 1908. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=426492 on 2015-06-07
  2. Conus excelsus Sowerby iii, 1908 - Record: CONUS BIODIVERSITY WEBSITE CATALOGUE
  • Brazier, J.W. 1894. A new Cone, Conus pulcherrimus Brazier, described from Tanna, New Hebrides. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 9: 189
  • Sowerby, G. B., III. 1908. Description of a new species of the genus Conus. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 8, 1:465-466, fig. 95.
  • Cotton, B.C. 1945. A Catalogue of the Cone Shells (Conidae) in the South Australian Museum. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 8(2): 229-280
  • Shikama, T. & Habe, T. 1968. A new Japanese cone, Turriconus nakayasui with reference to Embrikeana stupa group. Venus 26(3-4): 57-60
  • Cernohorsky, W.O. 1974. The taxonomy of some Indo-Pacific Mollusca with description of a new species. Part 2. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 11: 121-142, 38 figs
  • Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. Tropical Pacific marine shells. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls.
  • Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
  • Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp.
  • Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015). One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 81: 1-23
  • http://www.coneshells-am.ru/ Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea
  • "Turriconus excelsus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  • Conus excelsus Sowerby, G.B. III, 1908
  • Conus excelsus Sowerby, G.B. III, 1908
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