Hawaiian Conus — Kohn 
395 
Conus sulphur atus Kiener, 1845, Spec. Gen. 
Icon. Coq. Viv., 2: pi. 66, fig. 3; pi. 78, 
fig. 4; p. 130. 
Leptoconus vexillum. Adams and Adams, 
1853, Gen. Rec. Moll., 1: 252. 
Conus planorbis Born. Oostingh, 1928, 
Misc. Zool. Sumatrana, no. 28: 4. (error. 
Fide Misc. Zool. Sum., no. 49: 6.) 
Khizoconus vexillum (Gmelin). Cotton, 
1945, Rec. South Austral. Mus., 8: 251. 
DESCRIPTION: Shell large, rather thin. Body 
whorl obsoletely striate; aperture rather broad, 
sides parallel. Shoulder broad, angular, 
smooth. Spire moderately elevated, obtuse, 
somewhat canaliculate, striate. Color of body 
whorl white, broadly banded with yellowish 
brown, stained with darker brown at the base, 
with irregular chocolate longitudinal waved 
lines which often branch and are partially 
interrupted to form a white band at the mid- 
dle and another at the shoulder. Spire white 
with yellow apex and broad radiating choco- 
late bands, some of which are continuous on 
the body whorl. Interior of aperture white. 
Periostracum dark green, thick, opaque; 
ridged. In life, foot and siphon greenish black. 
length: To 135 mm. 
TYPE locality: None. 
REMARKS: Although this species was first 
reported from Hawaii as C. vexillum (Garrett, 
1878), it has generally been known in Hawaii 
as C. sumatrensis. Examination of specimens in 
the U. S. National Museum and in collections 
made by the author in Micronesia as well as 
Hawaii revealed morphological overlap and 
intergrades between typical specimens of 
both species. Further confusion is found in 
the literature. Kiener (1847: 81) stated under 
C. sumatrensis, "Coquille qui par sa forme se 
rapproche de la precedente [C. vexillum]', elle 
est reconnaisable surtout par ses lignes longi- 
tudinales ramifees.” Tryon (1884: 39) stated, 
on the other hand, under C. vexillum, "Spire 
often variegated with white and chestnut 
broad flames, the latter often overlaying also 
the lighter chestnut of the body whorl." 
Most authorities have considered the two as 
distinct species. The figures given in Reeve 
(1843: pis. 1 and 3) show extreme variants, 
while the specimens figured by Sowerby 
(1857: pi. 7) are hardly distinguishable. 
C. vexillum is a relatively uncommon spe- 
cies on Hawaiian reefs. It is known to occur 
to a depth of 25 fathoms. Pleistocene fossils 
are known from Molokai (Ostergaard, 1939, 
as C. sumatrensis ) . 
Conus vitulinus Hwass in Bruguiere 
Fig. 14 in Plate 1 
Conus vitulinus Hwass in Bruguiere, 1792, Enc. 
Meth. Vers, 1: 648, pi. 326, fig. 3. 
Conus vitulinus Bruguiere. Lamarck, 1810, 
Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 15: 265. 
Conus vulpinus Schubert and Wagner, 1829, 
Syst. Conch. Cab., 12: 56, pi. 222, fig. 3073. 
(non vulpinus Hwass in Bruguiere, 1792.) 
Conus vulpinus Wagner var. A. Kiister, 
1837-1840, Syst. Conch. Cab., ed. 2, 4: 29, 
pi. 3, fig. 7. (non vulpinus Hwass in 
Bruguiere, 1792.) 
Conus planorbis var. vitulinus Hwass. Morch, 
1852, Catal. Conchyl. Yoldi, p. 69. 
Dauciconus vitulinus (Bruguiere). Cotton, 
1945 , Rec. South Austral. Mus., 8: 246. 
Leptoconus vitulinus (Bruguiere) . Kira, 1955, 
Coloured Ulus. Shells Japan, p. 36. 
Lithoconus vitulinus (Hwass). Kaicher, 
1956 , Indo-Pacific Sea Shells, Sect. 5, pi. 2, 
no. 7a. 
DESCRIPTION: Shell thick and solid. Body 
whorl obscurely striate near the shoulder, the 
striae becoming more pronounced and granu- 
lar basally. Aperture narrow, the sides parallel. 
Shoulder angular, smooth; spire depressed, 
slightly canaliculate, striate. Color of body 
whorl usually deep reddish or purplish brown, 
darker at the base, with white bands mottled 
with ground color at the shoulder and below 
the center; the bands contain one to several 
rows of brown dots. In large specimens, the 
reddish brown areas often interrupted by 
longitudinal white blotches. Spire arcuately 
tesselated with brown and white. Perios- 
