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Calliostoma conulus (Linnaeus, 1758)
W. Brittany to Canarias, Azores and Madeira to Mediterranean. Predator on sessile preys, chiefly cnidarians. Lives on rocky bottoms, from subtidal grounds to shallow shelf.

Original taxon: Trochus conulus.
Calanque de Saména, south of Marseille, Provence, S. France. Notice the twin siphons of a Rocellaria dubia (Pennant, 1777) nested in the rock, at right, on top of the image. Original picture provided by slebris for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
Synonyms: albidus, tumidulum…
70-80m deep, off Málaga, Andalucia, S. Spain. 14mm.
Variants aurantia, cinnamonea, olivacea, rosea, sanguinea…
Variations affect the shape (angular to rounded base), the colour (green to golden orange), the sculpture. Always traces of a marbled pattern. 150-180m deep, Capraia island, Livorno, Toscana, W. Italy. 18-18mm.
Sometimes confused with small C. zizyphinum when the shell is spirally corded. 50m deep, on coral bottom, off Almería, Andalucia. 20mm.
On rocky-coralline bottom at 25-30m deep, Adra, Almería. 18x17mm and 19x17mm.
Early whorls granulose, as often in the genus. Aperture and growth marks prosocline, as always in the genus.
At the periphery, the sutural bead shows an alternance of white and dark orange dots; this feature, and the less contrasted and more blurred radial pattern, make the difference with laugieri.

Live specimen on a rock, Costa Brava, E. Spain.
Image provided by Jordi Regàs (ES).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –

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