Conus balteatus, common name the Mauritian cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of stinging humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.
The subspecies: Conus balteatus pigmentatus A. Adams & Reeve, 1848 is accepted as Conus balteatus G. B. Sowerby I, 1833
Description The size of an adult shell varies between 13 mm and 42 mm. The shell is olive-brown or brown violaceous, with a more or less irregular white band below the middle, and another one below the tuberculated spire. The interior of the aperture is tinged with violet.George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology, vol. VI, p. 21; 1879
Distribution This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off the Mascarene Basin, southeast Madagascar and in the Western Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea)
Gallery Below are several color forms and one subspecies:
References
Smith, E. A. 1877. Descriptions of new species of Conidae and Terebridae. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 19: 222–231. Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice Filmer R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758–1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp Bozzetti L. (2007) Conus olgiatii (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Conidae) nuova specie dal Madagascar Sud-Occidentale. Malacologia Mostra Mondiale 54: 16–17. Bozzetti L. (2008) Conus anosyensis (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Conidae) nuova specie dal Madagascar Sud-Orientale. Malacologia Mostra Mondiale 58: 15 Tucker J.K. (2009). Recent cone species database. September 4, 2009 Edition Bozzetti L. (2012) Two new species of Conidae (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) from Southern and South-Western Madagascar. Malacologia Mostra Mondiale 74: 4-6. [February 2012] 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 Monnier E., Tenorio M.J., Bouchet P. & Puillandre N. (2018). The cones (Gastropoda) from Madagascar "Deep South": composition, endemism and new taxa. Xenophora Taxonomy. 19: 25-75.
External links
The Conus Biodiversity website
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea