Conus boui Da Motta, 1988 Two species under the same name ?
Conus boui Da Motta, 1988 Two species under the same name ? (2003)
Author : Touitou David
First, I would like to come back on a few points concerning this lovely specie named "recently" as Conus boui (from Mr Bou's name) by Mr Da Motta in 1988 : This specie seems to be endemic from Martinique island (Caribbean). Never any other specimen were found elsewhere in the Caribbean (and of course in the world). It's Habitat is around 25-35m usually, but it can be found sometimes in 10m depth. It seems to be like C. daucus a worm-killer species. It is a small shell wich can reach 40mm though. While i was in Martinique (for 18 months), I had the chance to collect this rare shell beached, fresh dead and live. I saw many specimens dead and only 4 live. |
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Conus boui, red & yellow variations from Martinique |
Conus boui, red & yellow variations from Martinique |
This fact striked me while I was there. But the only mean to be sure that those shells could belong to too different species or sub-species, would be to analyse DNA. The shells are too close to reveal this. But another interesting point is : the animal. |
Conus boui, red specimen, Martinique | Conus boui, yellow specimen, Martinique |
This fact is striking on those two pictures i made in my small aquarium, in Martinique. |
C. daucus yellow specimen, Martinique | C. daucus red specimen, Martinique |
To sum up, C. boui (maybe like C. daucus), can be have two different colors : shell & animal can be red or yellow. Actually it is impossible to solve this important problem. |
The samples (with Martinique coneshells) just
before they get into the parcel sent to Mr Dudda.