Range: C. t. tripplei: Japan to Philippines, N. W. Australia, Solomon Is., C. r. queenslandis: New Caledonia and Queensland.

Description: Moderately large to large, usually solid to moderately heavy. Last whorl narrowly conical to conical, occasionally ventricosely conical; outline slightly convex at adapical fourth or sometimes two-thirds, straight below, often with a slightly concave central area. Shoulder angulate to broadly carinate. Spire low, outline concave; early whorls usually projecting from an otherwise rather flat spire. Larval shell of 3-3.5 whorls, maximum diameter 0.8-1 mm. First 3-6 postnuclear whorls tuberculate; late whorls usually carinate. Teleoconch sutural ramps tlat to slightly concave, with 2 increasing to 4-7 spiral grooves, often weaker in latest whorls. Shells with variably spaced and strongly granulose spiral ribs from base to subshoulder area intergrade with shells with variably prominent, smooth or granulose ribs at base.

Ground colour white, often suffused with cream in C. t. queenslandis. Last whorl with tan to brown axial streaks and blotches on adapical two-thirds and a continuous or interrupted spiral band of the same colour on each side of centre. Anterior colour band often weaker or even absent. C. t. queenslandis (Pl. 25, Figs. 13-15) with cream to orangish brown colour bands and without axial streaks and blotches. Coarse dashed or dotted brown spiral lines may be present but vary in number and arrangement. Base white or sometimes pale yellow. Larval whorls light brown, lighter in C. t. queenslandis. Teleoconch sutural ramps with variably numerous brown radial markings; in C. r. queenslandis ramps sometimes tinged with violet, and radial markings rather sparse and lighter in colour, often with an orange shade. Aperture white, often shaded with cream or violet in specimens from Queensland and New Caledonia.

Periostracum olive to olive-brown, thin, translucent to opaque, with axial ridges and widely spaced tufted spiral lines on last whorl including shoulder.

Habitat and Habits: In 100-300 m.

Discussion: C. tribblei is similar to C. lenavati, C. sugimotonis, C. sieboldii and C. recluzianus; for comparison, see the Discussions of those species. The differences in colour pattern of Queensland and New Caledonian specimens, described as C. queenslandis, may merit subspecitic status for their populations.

C. tribblei tribblei 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.