390 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XIII, October, 1959 
ier and more distantly spaced basally. Aper- 
ture fairly broad, widening somewhat basally. 
Shoulder broad, smooth, angular. Spire low, 
concave, singly striate. Color pale yellow, 
somewhat darker basally, with obscure white 
transverse bands. Interior of aperture bluish 
white. Periostracum thick, yellowish brown. 
length: 110 mm. 
TYPE locality: Midway Island. 
REMARKS: This species, which is rather 
rare, is distinguished from C. quercinus in that 
it lacks the brown spiral lines, has a flatter 
spire, and is only singly striate on the summit. 
It is distinguished from C. distans by lacking 
the brown bands and tuberculate shoulder. 
Its closest relative is C. virgo Linne, which 
does not occur in Hawaii. C. virgo is easily 
distinguished from C. spicert by the pro- 
nounced violet color of the base in the former. 
To the author’s knowledge, no specimens 
of C. spiceri have been collected outside the 
Hawaiian Islands. 
Conus sponsalis Hwass in Bruguiere 
Figs. 38 and 39 in Plate 2 
Conus sponsalis Hwass in BruguiHe, 1792, Enc, 
Meth. Vers, 1: 635, pL 322, fig. 1. 
(.^) Conus ceylanensis Hwass in Bruguiere, 1792, 
Enc. Meth. Vers, 1: 636, pi. 322, fig. 10. 
Conus sponsalis BruguiHe. Lamarck, 1810, 
Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 15: 38. 
Conus nanus Sowerby, 1833, Conch. Ulus., p. 
1, pt. 24, fig. 6. 
Conus nanus Broderip, 1833, Proc. Zook Soc. 
Lond., 1833: 53. 
Coronaxis nanus (Broderip). Adams and 
Adams, 1853, Gen. Rec. Moll., 1: 248. 
Coronaxis sponsalis, Adams and Adams, 
1853, Gen. Rec. Moll., 1: 248. 
Conus sponsalis Solander. Von Martens and 
Langkavel, 1871, Donum Bismarckianum. 
Samml. Stidsee-Conchyk, p. 31. 
Conus ceylonensis Hwass var. sponsalis, Tryon, 
1884, Man. Conch., 6: 23, pi. 6, fig. 99. 
Conus ceylonensis Hwass var. nanus Broderip. 
Tryon, 1884, Man. Conch., 6: 24, pi. 6, 
fig. 100. 
Conus nana Broderip. Paetel, 1887, Catal. 
Conch. -Samml. Paetel, 1: 302. 
Conus ceylanensis Hwass var. pusillus, Mant, 
1922, Nautilus, 35: 84. 
Conus ceylonensis Hwass. Ostergaard, 1935, 
B. P. Bishop Mus. Bulk, 131: 21. 
Virroconus sponsalis (BruguiHe). Cotton, 
1945, Rec. South Austral. Mus., 8: 237. 
Stephanoconus sponsalis (Hwass). Kaicher, 
1956, Indo-Pacific Sea Shells, Sect. 5, pk 2, 
fig. 5. 
DESCRIPTION: Shell small but thick and 
solid, extremely variable with respect to sev- 
eral characteristics. Body whorl usually ob- 
soletely striate, the striae somewhat more 
pronounced basally; aperture narrow, the 
sides parallel. Shoulder coronated with small 
tubercles which may be obsolete in large 
specimens. Spire usually moderately elevated, 
inner whorls coronated, but often eroded; 
0-3 striae per whorl. Ground color of basal 
two thirds of body whorl typically pale blue; 
remaining area near the shoulder white; base 
tipped with brownish purple. In many speci- 
mens, no other coloration is present. Some in- 
dividuals, chiefly younger specimens, marked 
with reddish or orange brown on body whorl; 
these markings generally of two arrangements, 
one or both of which may be present on the 
same shell: (1) encircling narrow bands of 
rather distantly separated dots or dashes sep- 
arated by white dashes (Fig. 39); (2) inter- 
rupted longitudinal blotches of color (Fig. 
38). Tubercles white, areas between them 
sometimes orange brown. Interior of aperture 
dark violet to brown, with white bands near 
the shoulder and centrally; outer lip white. 
Periostracum thin, translucent, sometimes be- 
coming thicker and opaque at the growing 
edge, or in larger specimens. In life, foot pale 
pink, mottled with white, darker pink at ex- 
tremities. Siphon and rostrum pale pink or 
white, tipped with darker pink; tentacles 
white. 
length: To 30 mm. Most specimens 
smaller. 
TYPE locality: ”ile Saint-George.” 
