Conus violaceus Gmelin, 1791

Franklin, J. Benjamin, Subramanian, K. A., Fernando, S. Antony & Krishnan, K. S., 2009, 2250, Zootaxa 2250, pp. 1-63 : 50-51

58. Conus violaceus Gmelin, 1791 (Figure 59)

Conus violaceus Gmelin, 1791: 3391 , no. 51 (representation of holotype, Martini 1777: pl. 2, figs. 18, 19 (50 x 17 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); locality unknown).

Conus tendineus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 733–734, no. 127 (lectotype, MHNG (76 x 27 mm) ( Walls 1979); "les mers d’ Afrique").

Material examined: MBMCS 158 , 1 specimen, SL 55 mm; SW 20 mm .

Description. Shell medium sized, moderately solid, glossy. Body whorl narrowly cylindrical; outline convex over adapical third and straight below to almost uniformly straight and parallel-sided. Shoulder indistinct from spire. Spire of moderate height; outline convex, sutures narrowly channeled. Spire tip rounded and sharp. Body whorl with widely separated narrow spiral ribs from base to shoulder; weaker at shoulder. Aperture narrow, wider anteriorly; outer lip thick, straight, sloping below shoulder.

Ground colour white. Body whorl with light brown axial streaks and with three dark-brown spiral bands above centre, within basal third and at shoulder. Spire light-brown with early whorls white. Base violet. Aperture white; outer colour visible along the inner lip margin.

Distribution. This species has not been previously reported from India.

The specimen described herein was collected from Pamban ( Table 6) by trawling in 10–20 m, mainly on intertidal sandy-mud.

Remarks. This study reports the occurrence of C. violaceus for the first time from India. It is a very rare species along the TamilNadu Coast.