Page 6 December 1978 No. 247 NEW YORK SHELL CLUB Notgs 
CONUS MILNEEDWARDSI Jousseaume, 1894 
Robert Janowsky 
Th rtain species of shells that for one reason or another 
San" ante as anaes influence on the mind of even the most rational 
of shell collectors. Such a species is Conus milneedwardsi. I can 
date the beginning of my infatuation with this shell from late 1969 
or early 1970 based on a painting of the shell by George F. 4 
strom which was reproduced in color on the front cover of Van Nos- 
trand's "Standard Catalog of Shells," second edition. TI knew then 
that I would not be happy unless I was able to get a specimen of 
this beautiful shell for my collection. 
Years went by, and although I was able to get offers of almost every 
other species of shell that one can think of -- no C. milneedwardsi, 
Finally, one day we hit pay dirt: another dealer (who shall remain 
nameless in this sordid tale) received an offer from a party in 
South Africa for not one, but fully a dozen specimens of Conus milne- 
edwardsi and, since twelve specimens were more than he cou andle, 
wanted to know if I'd be interested in splitting the lot with hin. 
This was perhaps the most complicated deal in which I had ever been 
involved, though now, in retrospect, it seems comparatively tame. 
The shells were to be sent to the bank of the person sending the 
Shells from South Africa who would then in turn send it to the bank 
of my co-conspirator in the United States where we had posted the 
necessary funds in escrow. After an exasperating series of delays 
the big day finally arrived. I'll never forget the disappointment 
that I felt when our twelve beautiful gem-condition specimens turned 
out to be broken, beachworn mockeries of that beautiful picture on 
the cover of "Van Nostrand's ...% I learned a lesson, though, -- 
this is a tough shell to get in good condition; there is a great de- 
gree of difference between what we think of as the ideal (the pic- 
ture) and the real (the several thousand dollars worth of beach 
specimens staring us in the face). 
Conus milneedwardsi Jousseaume, 1894 is a species that, like its 
two close relatives, Conus gloriamaris Chemnitz 1777 and Conus ben- 
alensis Okatuni, 1968, is a deep-water shell and is apparently from 
a rather limited geographical range. In recent years specimens have 
been found off India, South Africa, Réunion, and Madagascar (Indian 
Ocean) and from Japan and Taiwan as well. Maurice Veillard, author 
of "Cones et Porcelaines de 1'Tle de la Réunion" (copyright 1976 by 
Libra Press, Ltd., Hong Kong), makes the following comment about 
this species: "Of the few Bd eh a which have been caught in Reu- 
nion (nine, to my knowledge), most have been brought back by scuba 
divers from depths between 45 and 80 metres. They all seem to come 
from the west coast." It is a very large species and Monsieur 
Veillard has in collection a dead-collected Specimen that is pres- 
Sana considered to be the world's record in size at an impressive 
mm. 
It appears that there are two rather distinct f ded, 
Specimens that come from the Indian Ocean are qaite fegesrs pe Se 
ble from those specimens that come from the Orient. The differences 
between the forms can be somewhat extreme and, in fact, the speci- 
were named as a separate species, Conus kaw 62 
His description was based on three specimens, Gclicctea foun UF 

