Conus marmoreus, common name the "marbled cone", is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. It is the type species for the genus Conus. This is a species which is believed to feed mostly on marine molluscs including other cone snails. This snail is venomous, like all cone snails. The subspecies: Conus marmoreus bandanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 is a synonym of Conus bandanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Chagos and Madagascar, in the Bay of Bengal off India; in the western part of the Pacific Ocean to Fiji and the Marshall Islands; off Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

Shell description

The size of an adult shell can vary between 30 mm and 150 mm. The flattish spire is nodular. The outer lip flares towards posterior. In this species, the distinctive, reticulated colour pattern can range from black with white dots, to orange with white reticulations, so arranged as to expose the white in rounded triangular large spots. The aperture is white or light pink.

In art

In 1650 Rembrandt portrayed this cone in an etching as "De schelp" ("The shell").

Gallery