Dear friends

I would say that large specimens of conus of virtually any species do
occur and are not necessary rare, although of course extremely large (or
extremely small) specimens are unusual in general. Another very different
story is how many of these large specimens are in fine condition for the
specimen shell market. I have found many large to very large specimens of
west African conus such as venulatus, psudonivifer, pulcher, etc...the
larger they get the worse is their condition: scars, erosion, natural
damage here and there. ON the other end, it is well-known that younger
specimens (not necessarily immature specimens) are in general better
preserved, with brighter colors, and much more eye-appealing than gerontic
beasties. So my opinion is that larger specimens of conus are not
necesarily rare. Large specimens in mint condition certainly are.
IN relation to this matter, I would mention that I have heard that conus
(I don't know about other molluscs) haven't "caducity" date. This means
that they would be expected to live very very long in the presence of
adequate supply of food and in the absence of natural enemies or dangers
from the natural environment. This implies that in nature, all conus
either have violent deaths one way or the other, or live forever! If
someone has more information on this fact, I would be glad to hear, since
I am not able to locate the precise source for this information.
Warmest regards to all

Manuel Jimenez Tenorio

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