Update July 2024

Hosting of the site moved from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, where it was hosted for nearly 20 years, to LSA TECHNOLOGY SERVICES - University of Michigan. Modifications to the site and its content were performed to provide a working version of the original Conus Biodiversity Website and include updates to the site's code to adhere to follow modern best practices, minor corrections associated with formatting of text and pages, removal of contact information and email links for Alan and Trevor, repair of broken links, and conversion of video file types. We are working to provide an updated version of this site (while also preserving this original one). If you are interested in contributing to the development and/or maintenance of the new site, please contact Tom Duda.

Although not kept track of in Recent Additions, the site was updated following the October 2007 update listed below to include additional species in the catalogue and other revisions. Based on modification dates in the database, the last updates to site records occurred in November 2012.

Update October 2007

We have increased the number of images of species-group taxa with images to 831. Most of these are photographic images of types, while others are images of representations of holotypes and lectotypes, or of figures that accompanied original descriptions but have not been designated as representations of types.

We have now posted PDFs of works containing the original descriptions of 2,306 species-group taxa in Conus. Except for those protected by copyright, these may be downloaded by clicking on the color PDF symbol wherever it appears on the website.

However, maintenance of The Conus Biodiversity Website has recently become difficult. It is based on research supported by the National Science Foundation, but this grant extended from August 2003 to August 2007. It has thus now expired, forcing termination of the position so effectively occupied by Mr. Trevor Anderson during the last four years.

Nevertheless, any help filling gaps in the Catalogue portion of the site would still be greatly appreciated. Works with original descriptions or pages, plates, etc., that are missing from PDFs that we have would still be welcomed. Increasingly, older malacological works containing new species descriptions are also appearing in electronic format on sites such as Google Books and Internet Archive. For a partial listing, see Chiribotan (Newsletter of the Malacological Society of Japan), 38: 67-69, 2007.

We also continue to appreciate information on newly described species of Conus. We will endeavor to update the site in the future as conditions permit. Maintenance in its current state is planned; should additional funding become available in the future, periodic updates and improvements will be implemented.

Update July 2007

The Conus Species Accounts page has now been fully implemented. We have posted verbatim reproductions of the accounts of the 316 species of Indo-Pacific Conus from the Manual of the Living Conidae, by Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995). The format is generally similar to that of the book, but certain aspects differ because all of the information is databased and taxonomic information is stored separately from the species accounts. For this reason, a series of tabs above each species account facilitate access to the synonymies and subspecies, paleontological records, gene sequences, and the original description. We are most grateful to Conchbooks and Klaus Groh for permission to post the accounts from Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995).

We have added to videos of Conus feeding biology, bringing the total to 15. They show the envenomation and swallowing of prey by representatives of all three major feeding types: those that specialize on polychaetes, other gastropods, and fishes. In those cases where the videos have been the subject of published studies, the citations are provided, as are links to available PDFs, and two are shown as links to the Biological Bulletin website.

We have increased the number of images of species-group taxa with images to about 800. Most of these are photographic images of types, while others are images of representations of holotypes and lectotypes, or of figures that accompanied original descriptions but have not been designated as representations of types.

We have now posted PDFs of 264 works containing the original descriptions of species-group taxa in Conus described between 1758 and 1930, as well as 21 works published since for which we have obtained permission from the copyright holders to post. These may be downloaded by clicking on the color PDF symbol wherever it appears on the website. In addition, we have 320 PDFs of additional works containing original descriptions between 1930 and the present. We are not making these available for electronic download because of copyright protections but indicate which ones we have by a black and white PDF symbol. Any help gathering works with original descriptions or filling in missing portions (pages, plates, etc.) of PDFs we have would be greatly appreciated.

The Conus Biodiversity Website is based on research supported by the National Science Foundation. Currently, this project emphasizes revisionary systematics of Conus in the Western Atlantic region. In this connection, we are always in need of additional preserved specimens of Conus for anatomical and molecular genetic studies. Recently collected specimens preserved in alcohol are most suitable for the latter, but age and mode of preservation is less critical for anatomical study. We would be most grateful to learn of any specimens that might be available for study, either from past collections or that might be collected in the future.

Update October 2006

After a long period "under construction," the Conus Species Accounts page is now being implemented. We have thus far posted accounts of about 50 Indo-Pacific species, taken from the Manual of the Living Conidae, Vol. 1. Indo-Pacific Region, by Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995), and more will soon follow. The format is generally similar to that of the book, but certain aspects differ because all of the information is databased and taxonomic information is stored separately from the species accounts. For this reason, a series of tabs above each species account access synonymies and subspecies, paleontological records, gene sequences, and the original description. We are most grateful to Conchbooks and Klaus Groh for permission to post the accounts from Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995).

On the Conus Descriptions section of the Information page, we have added a contemporary counterpart to the 1981 piece, "Conus Descriptions Aren't Improving." This modern sage advice comes from Benoit Dayrat of the University of California, and in his abstract of a paper, "To Name or Not to Name," presented at the World Congress of Malacology in Perth, Western Australia, in 2004 (Molluscan Megadiversity: Sea, Land and Freshwater, p. 31).

Update February 2006

We have added a page entitled "Videos," containing a baker's dozen videos of Conus feeding biology. They show the envenomation and swallowing of prey by representatives of all three major feeding types: those that specialize on polychaetes, other gastropods, and fishes. In those cases where the videos have been the subject of published studies, the citations are provided, as are links to available PDFs, and two are shown as links to the Biological Bulletin website.

We have increased the number of species-group taxa with images to 652. Most of these are photographic images of types, while 145 are images of representations of holotypes and lectotypes, and 22 are of figures that accompanied original descriptions but have not been designated as representations of types.

We have now posted PDFs of 261 works containing original descriptions of species-group taxa in Conus described between 1758 and 1930. These may be downloaded by clicking on the color PDF symbol () wherever it appears on the website. In addition, we have PDFs of 343 works containing original descriptions between 1931 and the present. We are not making these available for electronic download because of copyright protections but indicate which ones we have by a black and white PDF symbol (). Any help gathering works with original descriptions or filling in missing portions (pages, plates, etc.) of PDFs we have would be greatly appreciated.

Update November 2005

In the "Information" section, we have added a number of corrections to the Manual of the Living Conidae, Vol. 1. Indo-Pacific Region, by Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995). We thank Michael Filmer for bringing most of these to our attention.

We have posted PDFs of 245 works containing original descriptions of species-group taxa in Conus described between 1758 and 1929. This represents 52% of the total works from this time period. The PDFs can be downloaded by clicking on the color PDF symbol () wherever it appears on the website. We currently have PDFs of 348 of the works containing original descriptions between 1930 and the present. This represents 90% of the total works for this time period. We are not making these available for electronic download because of copyright protections but indicate which ones we have by a black and white PDF symbol (). Any help gathering works with original descriptions or filling in missing portions (pages, plates, etc.) of PDFs we have, would be greatly appreciated.

Update July 2005

Previously we had posted images of types for 176 species-group taxa of Conus described between 1758 and 1840, representing about 75% of the species whose types are known to exist. We have continued our chronological approach and have now posted images of primary types of 146 of the 1,436 species described during the remainder of the 20^th Century, 1841-1900.

In addition to the images, we have added a link to all Conus gene sequences that have been deposited in GenBank. You will see the NCBI icon next to the camera icon that indicates the presence of a primary type image. Clicking on the NCBI icon will take you to the GenBank nucleotide and protein sequences for that species as well as citations of publications that have used them.

We have also added a new menu labeled "Information." New pages here include:

• Publications of the project since its inception in 2003;
• Corrections and Updates to the Manual of the Living Conidae, Vol. 1. Indo-Pacific Region, by Röckel, Korn, and Kohn (1995), including additional systematic information on Indo-West Pacific Conus subsequent to that publication. We thank Ross Mayhew for suggesting this addition to the website.
• Recent Additions such as this notice of the latest enhancements to the website.

In the near future, we hope to add additional images of primary types of species described through 1900, and images of the shells of specimens whose genes and proteins have now been sequenced.

Update February 2005

We have added color photographic images of primary type specimens of 176 species-group taxa of Conus described between 1758 and 1840. These represent about 75% of the species whose types are known to exist. Most of those remaining to be posted are of species described as Cenozoic fossils.

Navigating the site is now easier. The images of types may be accessed directly via the Type Gallery, and single mouse clicks from there lead to the taxonomic entries and original citations.

The Catalogue has been updated and navigation within it made more user-friendly. Some nominal species-group taxa introduced in 2004 are included, and we would like to be advised of any we have missed. Hard copies of original descriptions are particularly appreciated, and we are willing to post photographs of primary type specimens of new nominal taxa. We particularly thank John Tucker for calling our attention to a number of omissions from the Catalogue.