Conus bengalensis ( Okutani, 1968 )

Franklin, J. Benjamin, Subramanian, K. A., Fernando, S. Antony & Krishnan, K. S., 2009, 2250, Zootaxa 2250, pp. 1-63 : 23

12. Conus bengalensis ( Okutani, 1968) (Figure 13)

Darioconus bengalensis Okutani, 1968: 66–69 , pl. 7, fig. 2 (holotype, NSMT (97 x 31 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); "The Bay of Bengal").

Material examined: MBMCS 112 , 2 specimens, SL 92–112 mm; SW 46–56 mm .

Description. Shell large, solid, tall with high gloss. Body whorl narrowly conical, outline straight. Shoul- der narrow, straight angled, slightly concave above and merging into spire. Spire of moderate height, stepped; outline almost straight and sharply pointed. Aperture narrow, parallel, slightly wider posteriorly, anal notch very deep, outer lip sharp, straight; slightly curved anteriorly.

Ground colour white, heavily covered with dense network of small and medium reddish-brown tents; two rows of dark reddish brown blotches, one above the centre and the other below; blotches are oval and do not tend to form complete spiral bands; blotches contain weakly defined reticulated lines and traces of fine spiral dashes. Spire with similar reddish-dark brown blotches. Spire tip pale pinkish. Aperture white.

Distribution. Okutani (1968) first reported C. bengalensis (Glory of Bengal) from the Bay of Bengal (as ‘ Darioconus bengalensis ’). Kohn (2001) stated that C. bengalensis was restricted to the Indian Ocean.

The specimens reported herein were collected from Mandapam and Keelakarai ( Table 6) by trawling in 50–60 m and 25–30 m.

Remarks. Röckel et al. (1995) observed that the shells of C. bengalensis from southeast India differed from typical C. bengalensis in having a broader body whorl. However, the specimens from Gulf of Mannar had comparatively narrowly conical body whorl. Conus bengalensis is rare along the TamilNadu Coast.