About Conus chaldaeus (Röding, 1798)
Conus chaldaeus (Röding, 1798) has a shell whose size ranges between 19.7 mm and 59 mm. The shell base color is white, and is sometimes rose-tinted, marked with three or four revolving bands made up of irregular longitudinal dark chocolate or nearly black markings. These black markings are often more continuous, and usually cover most of the shell's length, leaving only an irregular white central band uncovered. Sometimes the markings are impressed, causing the intervening white spaces to project above the surface in a granular or tuberculate texture. Occasionally, the entire shell surface becomes dark chocolate apart from the white band and scattered small white spots. These dark markings also adorn the slightly coronated spire of the shell. The aperture is white, with clouded bands that match the location of the exterior markings. The whole surface of the shell is more or less striate, and the striae become more prominent toward the dark stained base of the shell. This marine species is distributed in the Red Sea, the tropical Indo-Pacific, and the Eastern Pacific (found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama). It also occurs off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia (in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia).
