Conus amadis Gmelin, 1791

Franklin, J. Benjamin, Subramanian, K. A., Fernando, S. Antony & Krishnan, K. S., 2009, 2250, Zootaxa 2250, pp. 1-63 : 18

4. Conus amadis Gmelin, 1791 (Figure 5)

Conus amadis Gmelin, 1791: 3388 , no. 32 (lectotype, ZMUC (78 x 41 mm) ( Kohn 1966); "Rameswaram, India ").

Conus amadis Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 689–690, no. 78 (lectotype, MHNG (85 x 46 mm) (Kohn 1968); "aux isles de Java et de Borneo ").

Cucullus venustus Röding, 1798: 47 , no. 599.

Conus amadis var. aurantia “Lamarck” Dautzenberg, 1937: 14–15 (representation of lectotype, Knorr 1772: pl. 5, fig. 3 (71 x 33 mm) ( Coomans et al. 1981); locality unknown).

Conus amadis var. castaneofasciata “Sowerby” Dautzenberg, 1937: 15 (lectotype, MHNG (80 x 40.5 mm) ( Coomans et al. 1983); locality unknown).

Conus subacutus Fenaux, 1942: 4 , fig. 10 (" Madagascar ").

Conus arbonatalis da Motta, 1978: 5 , 7 (holotype, MHNG (64 x 30 mm) ( Rockel et al. 1995); "off the coastal waters arching from Ranong South West Thailand toward Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal").

Conus (Leptoconus) lozeti Richard, 1980: 91–95 (holotype, MNHN (56 x 30 mm) ( Röckel et al. 1995); "Fort-Dauphin au sud-est de Madagascar ").

Material examined: MBMCS 104 , 291 specimens, SL 35–112 mm; SW 17–54 mm .

Description. Shell medium sized to large, solid. Body whorl broadly conical, glossy and thinner at aperture lip. Shoulder angulate to carinate. Spire of moderate height, sometimes shorter; apex sharply pointed, strong spiral ridge runs along spire. Body whorl with distinct to obsolete spiral grooves from base to centre or beyond, separated by ribs at base and ribbons above. Ground colour white. Body whorl with yellow to dark brown variable, irregular, zig-zag markings. Two transverse yellowish to dark brown bands interrupted by white dots or small tents either side of centre. Spire marked with yellow to dark brown spots. Aperture bluishwhite, translucent and uniformly wide. End of siphon is yellow to dark brown with a black band behind anterior edge.

Distribution. Thurston (1890) first reported C. amadis from Rameswaram. Subsequent records are from Pamban ( Thurston 1895; Satyamurti 1952), Krusadai Island ([Chennappayya] 1927, as ‘ C. acuminatus ’), Mandapam ( Sundaram 1969), Madras ( Melvill & Standen 1898; Crichton 1940, 1941; Gravely 1942; Satyamurti 1952) and PortoNovo ( Kohn 1978). Kohn (1978) has reported museum specimens from Tuticorin (at BMNH) and Tranqebar (at ZMUC).

The specimens described herein were collected from all the stations selected for this study (except Rameswaram and Vellapatti) by trawling in 10–30 m ( Table 6).

Remarks. Conus amadis was found to be a common species. The colour pattern on the body whorl varied widely within populations and among stations (Figure 62E). Shells of many specimens from the Gulf of Mannar and Southern regions were infested with sessile barnacle Balanus amphitrite Darwin (Figure 62F) and Balanus variegatus Darwin (Figure 62G). Conus amadis was frequently collected at Periyakuppam when fishing for seashells after monsoons.