Conus hyaena Hwass, 1792

Franklin, J. Benjamin, Subramanian, K. A., Fernando, S. Antony & Krishnan, K. S., 2009, 2250, Zootaxa 2250, pp. 1-63 : 32

27. Conus hyaena Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 (Figure 28)

Conus hyaena Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 656–657, no. 55 (lectotype, MHNG (61 x 33.5 mm) (Kohn 1968); "la côte ouest de 1’ Arique").

Conus unicolor Sowerby I, 1834 : pl. 54, fig. 59 (lectotype, BMNH (46 x 23.5 mm) ( Kohn 1992); locality unknown).

Conus concolor Sowerby II, 1841 : pls. 177–184 (" Solomon Islands ").

Conus mutablis Reeve, 1844 : pl. 45, nos. 249 (syntype, BMNH (29 x 16.5 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); locality unknown).

Conus tribunus Crosse, 1865: 312–313 , pl. 10, fig. 2 (" California ").

Conus kobelti Löbbecke, 1882: 189–190 , pl. 10, figs. 4, 5 (holotype, LMD (42 x 23 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); locality unknown).

Conus halli da Motta, 1983: 3 , figs. 2, 6 (holotype, MHNG (53 x 28 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); "Pasir Putih, about 180 kilometers east of Surabaya, Java, Indonesia ").

Material examined: MBMCS 127 , 16 specimens, SL 36–68 mm; SW 17–32 mm .

Description. Shell medium to moderately large, moderately solid-to-solid. Body whorl conical, upper sides convex near shoulder, less so or conical below, left side concave near base; shoulder angulate to rounded. Spire of low to moderate height, outline straight to slightly convex. Aperture uniformly wide; outer lip sharp evenly convex.

Body whorl dull white to yellow, heavily covered with broad reddish brown to dark brown streaks, usually a paler mid-body area visible through streaks; spire and shoulder dirty white to brown, heavily covered with curved light brown lines and blotches, about the same colour as the body whorl. Aperture bluish white. Periostracum thick, brown to dark brown in colour.

Distribution. Abercrombie (1893) and Melvill & Abercrombie (1893) first reported C. hyaena (as ‘ C. mutablis Reeve’) from Bombay along the west coast. Subsequent records are from Madras ( Melvill & Standen 1898) on the east coast and from Goa and Panjim on the west coast ( Melvill & Standen 1901). Röckel et al. (1995) reported specimens from the east (Madras & Keelakarai) and west coasts ( Bombay).

The specimens reported herein were collected from Keelakarai ( Table 6) by trawling in 20–50 m. We have also collected 42 specimens from Colaba , Bombay , in sandy intertidal regions and buried in sand around rock boulders and in rock crevices. Kohn (1978) has also made similar observations of this species from Bombay.

Remarks. The specimens classified as C. mutablis Reeve ( Kohn 1978) is now considered a junior synonym of C. hyaena Hwass ( Kohn 2001) . A large population of this species was found in Bombay. A detailed study of the population attributes of C. hyaena would be of interest given that the habitats of these two populations are different and also for their discontinuous distribution between the west and east coasts of India.