Range: Moluccas and N.W. New Guinea.
Description: Medium-sized to moderately large, moderately solid to solid. Last whorl slightly ventricosely conical to conoid- cylindrical, outline convex; left side concave abapically. Shoulder angulate, strongly tuberculate. Spire of low to moderate height, outline straight to slightly concave. Postnuclear whorls tuberculate. Teleoconch sutural ramps concave in later whorls, with 2-3 distinct to obsolete spiral grooves. Last whorl with weak spiral ribs on basal fourth; ribs often granulose and extending up to shoulder (form deburghiae).
| Shell Morphometry | ||
|---|---|---|
| L | 45-86 mm | |
| RW | 0.19-0.40 g/mm | |
| ((L 43-61 mm)) | ||
| RD | 0.55-0.60 | |
| PMD | 0.80-0.93 | |
| RSH | 0.09-0.20 | |
Ground colour white. Last whorl with 2 broad blackish brown spiral bands, above and below centre. White zones with dark brown reticulate lines. Teleoconch sutural ramps with irregularly spaced brown reticulate lines. Aperture white.
Habitat and Habits: In 1.5-2 m, on coral sand and on dead coral (Ormas, pers. comm. 1993).
Discussion: C. nocturnus is most similar to the variable species C. bandanus, and may upon further investigation prove to be conspecific. At present, however, we accept the conclusion of Coomans et al. (1985b) that it is a distinct species. C. bandanus attains larger maximum size (to 150 mm) and has a more conical last whorl with straighter outline. The banding pattern of C. nocturnus is most similar to C. bandanus form equestris from the Moluccas, which is also similar in size. However, the latter differs in weight and shape as mentioned above, has a more pronounced tent-marked pattern, and has a lower spire (RSH 0.07- 0.10). C. nocturnus as recently been found living together with C. bandanus and C. marmoreus in Seram, Indonesia (Ormas, pers. comm., 1993).
C. nocturnus Range Map
This section contains verbatim reproductions of the accounts of 316 species of Conus from the Indo-Pacific region, from Manual of the Living Conidae, by Röckel, Korn and Kohn (1995). They are reproduced with the kind permission of the present publisher, Conchbooks.
All plates and figures referred to in the text are also in Röckel, Korn & Kohn, 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae Vol. 1: Indo-Pacific Region.
The range maps have been modified so that each species account has it own map, rather than one map that showed the ranges of several species in the original work. This was necessary because each species account is on a separate page on the website and not confined to the order of accounts in the book.