Yep, it was a herd of conus quercinus, not a cluster or gang,
or even a pack.  They were all moseying toward deeper water
on the sandy, flat bottom of a tidal channel about a hundred
meters wide.  They were spread out about two meters apart,
all heading east, in a herd of between 25 and several hundred.
(I didn't try to see how far across the flat they were distributed,
I was above them looking for the stainforthis.)  Though I am
sure there must be others, conus quercinus is the only cone
that I know of, specifically, that is found in deep water for part
of the year and shallow water for part of the year.  There were
dozens in ankle-deep water on the northwest side of Kenutu
Island, Vava'u, Tonga, in January of 1997.  Two months later
they had all vanished.  They have been in shallow water in
Samoa recently, but should be heading for deeper water soon.
All the lambis species in Samoa (scorpio, truncata, crocata)
also migrate into shallow water for several months of the year.
 
Don
 
----------
> From: Tom Eichhorst <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: HSN & Depth Ranges
> Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 1:57 PM
>
> I think we need to differentiate between a herd - say of Strombus
> thersites, known to move and feed in a fast moving colony as opposed to
> a group -- a whole lot of Nassarius feeding on a dead crab.  Something
> dead which attracts a host of feeders like vultures to a dead cow is
> something we can all easily accept in the mollusk world.  I would call
> Fred's Cypraea the later case - a group.  In this case also attracted by
> good feeding.  Now if they grazed the algae clean and then left in mass
> for other feeding areas...  And I think the pack of murex all feeding
> also fit this category.  So Fred, or Patti, anyone else, any other cases
> of "herd" like behavior similar to the S. thersites?  And please warn me
> before I get accused of beating a deceased equine.  I have been waiting
> around the house all day for my new computer to arrive -- which it never
> did.  So instead of doing anything constructive on this machine I was
> stuck asking questions of those who have been there.
>
> Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA
>
> .