Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Conidae

Conasprella stearnsii

(Conrad, 1869)

Dusky Cone

Shell size to 26 mm; smallest of the local species of cone snails. The shell is similar to the Caribbean C. jaspideus, but more slender and with spiral lines only on the anterior half. This was considered by some authors as a shallow-water, or inshore, subspecies of C. jaspideus. The Dusky Cone differs from Conasprella pealii by its narrower last whorl, darker color, often with white spiral dashes or dots, and relatively shorter last whorl. The second image shows a female Dusky Cone in the process of laying egg capsules. Photo by Amy Tripp, 2021, on Kice Island, Collier County, Florida.