Senegal Cone Shells

Goree island. The old prison, now a museum. Here behind this place is a submarine rock masswhere you can find if you are lucky some beautiful sanguinolenta endemic or the cone unifasciatus  that is described lower.

Conus hybridus (lamarkii hybridus ?)

This cone is quite common in the north and west part of the Cap Vert peninsula where it is less numerous than c.tabidus and c. mercator. At low depth you can find it by free diving . I discovered a special one near 12 meters deep at the foot of the Ouakam cliffs. It is special by its elongate form and its special drawing (but is it an hybridus ?) . I have found some species bigger than 50 mm, maximum length as Pin says.

Three beautiful specimen of c. hybridus. >From left to right :

L : 51.5 . l : 25.8
L : 50.4 . l : 24.1
L : 51.4 . l : 25.7

Drawing are very variable. It may be all blue grey

with always present two clear bands at the lower third and at the shoulders level on the back.

Conus guinaicus

I only find two beached species on the " petite côte ". That is true, I never investigate the Popomguine area which is its birthing area as M.Pin says. I nevertheless received few specimens from local fishermen. It is quite easy to make the difference with C. hybridus because it is more thicker with a lower spire and a more regular drawing, the two white bands are absent or quite obsolete.

Conus mercator

This kind small shell is present all long the north and west coast of the Cap vert peninsula. Very easy to find it lives in very little deep water. I never find it south of the N’Gor area while Pin says it was present nee Dakar city . It may be that is the result of the invading pollution ? It is easily recognisable despite a very varying drawing.

Conus cacao

This cone which have been sometimes confused with C. mercator in the past is obviously very different with a general light brown pattern colour, more heavy, and presence of two clear bands at the first third and on the shoulders levels, even if the netting drawing and its general shape looks like this one. It is usually found on the petite côte area near N’Gaparou where the C mercator is absent. It is numerous at some period of the year (breeding time ?) half buried in the sand, close to the rocks.

Conus cloveri

I have find this species at only one place, at the foot of the Ouakam cliff in a large natural pool at low tide. In this very restricted area there were numerous pieces to gather with some big C. ermineus in very bad state. This little cone is quite easily recognisable and cannot be confuse with any other cone. It can be considered as quite rare. Very nice species in GEM condition are very rare.

Conus unifasciatus

I have some trouble identifying this species. Those I collected are quite typical of the description by M.Pin. However the places where I found them are quite different . Pin says they are from the northern area of the peninsula, but mine comes from and area spread from the Ouakam village and Goree island where they do not inhabit with the other species that Pin says. On an other hand their maximum length exceeds largely the 40 mm that Pin quotes.( 47 and 48 for the biggest).

I have found a colony quite homogeneous both by its black brown colour an its light weight aspect in regard to the other, in a very narrow area in Goree island.

In fact it seems to me, that apart its colour and for some specimens its more thick appearance, this species looks like closely to C. hybridus : same shape and density, same length range, and presence of two white bands… ?

Conus genuanus

Here is a very beautiful cone with no identification problem. Its shape and drawing are very constant. I only found one by diving at about 6 meters on a sandy bottom in Goree island. This is quite normal because it is usually found deeper. My other specimens come from fishermen on the "  petite côte ".

Conus ambiguus

I did not found this species by myself. The specimen I have come from fishermen of the " petite côte " area. There are two forms. The small one have a smooth shell lightly coloured of pink brown. The big form has a white background with some brown longitudinal flames. On the two forms there are brown radial markings on the shoulders.

Conus tabidus

This small cone is quite common at small depth on all the Dakar peninsula except its southern part. It lives often with C. mercator and C. hybridus. Small sized it is covered with a quite thick brownish periostractum ; There not any identification problem apart with the small specimen of C. ambiguus.

Conus ermineus

This beautiful cone is present on all the Cap Vert peninsula area and in the islands so called where I had the opportunity to go and dive. Its birthing area is probably wider and transatlantic. C. ermineus () is also present in the Caribian area. It has a wide range of length, colour and drawings ; Its biotop is also very variable. You can found it in very few depth waters at low tide as well as at depth closing 20 to 30 meters (off the petite côte). However its shape is always the same and it can be identified easily.