Hello Andre
I am no Cone expert and can't answer your questions in full but can throw a
little data at you.

First a little about Utila....
Utila is a volcanic Island on the edge of the continental shelf, and is not
an ocean mount Island as part of the "Bonaca Ridge" as are Roatan, Guanaja,
and the Swan Islands.  As such everything north of Utila is relatively
shallow, and every thing north drops to 3800 fms quite fast!  This isolates
it from any other island system such as those on the Bonaca Ridge, and those
in Belize.

Utila itself can more or less be divided up into four main ecological areas:

1) First is Utila Bay, a grass area that is shallow near show and extends
out to a sand and silt bottom in the center reaching about 60 ft marked with
small patch reefs, there is also a trench near the bay opening which drops
quickly to 110-140 ft. It has been speculated that the Bay is a Nursery for
many species.

2) Second on both sides of the bay are reef systems and small walls, to the
east is a 1-3 ft shallows with grass, rubble and small corals, eventually
ending will a reef wall on it's north and northeast edges.  On the west side
of the bay are deeper grass and sand with a coral reef top and finger
channels at a small coral wall extending from about 25 to 80 foot.  East and
west differ by the depth of the grasses above the reef, and the lack of sand
finger channels on the east.

3) Third, as you head east from the bay to through the keys, around the west
end and up to the north shore, you have expanses of grass flats, large
coralline sand patches and patch reefs.

4) Forth is the Iron shore or the northeast and east sides.  This is a hard
bottom remnant of lava flows.  On the outer edges you have stag horn corals
and a wall.

My collecting there spans 1988 to 1996, pre hurricane Mitch.  On my 1995 &
1996 trips, they were both in August vs. late Oct-Jan as other trips.  There
was a distinct absence of most of the material previously found.  However,
this could be due to the brow algae that was beginning to cover the bay
bottom, not present in the early 1990's and before.  Unfortunately most of
my 95 & 96 material is still frozen and can't be examined.

Some Cones are sexually dimorphic and can also be found in pairs if you look
around closely.
For example C. regus I have typically found in pairs, one small and one
large.

C. spurius
The largest specimen I ever found is 36mm, with the average range of
27-32mm... plus many smaller ones.  Found in areas 1, 2, 3, they all are
very light weight, regardless of size or location found.  The amount of
thickening of the lips, or the shell weight itself on many Mollusks is
environmental, or population relate.  I do have one exception specimen that
is a 41mm from the central bay that was crabbed, it also is patterned
differently from the others, and has numerous serous repaired breaks which
are not typical of the other live collected specimens, and as such could
conceivably have been a fisherman's discard from a trapping spot on one of
the banks.

Conus regus
The central bay did not produce any C. regus, but location 2 east, 3 & 4
did.
They appear to prefer more rocky areas.
1) none
2 east) 35mm & 29mm, very high spired, close coronation, pustulated, dark
2 west) 34mm, very high spired, close coronation, coffee
3) 36mm & 23mm, very high spired, close coronation, coffee
4) up to 49mm, broad, low spired, little pattern, citrine, abundant

C. daucus is Found in virtually all areas of Utila
1) 20mm to 30mm, in silty sand, atypical, light orange, common
2) same as 1, in sand & grasses
3) same as 1, in sand & grasses
3) 41mm, broad, pale yellow, pale dark upper band, a few orange dots
  (not certain this is C. daucus)

This just covers a few of the Cones of Utila...
Feel free to ask more questions.

Well I should get some sleep...
Leslie Crnkovic
Houston, Texas

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Andre Poremski
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Health of Utila Conidae species

Hi All,
I am new to this list.  Many of you I know outside Conch-L but I'd like to
introduce myself.

My name is Andre Poremski from Wisconsin, USA.  I'm relatively "new" to this
community, however I have been specializing in Conidae since I was 12...ok
maybe not to my current level, but I collected only beach cones from my
family Florida trips (mostly spurius atlanticus and anabathrum)and gave away
or left the rest on the beach.  My love for Conidae was ignited!  Now I
specialize in Conidae from the Western Atlantic, Caribbean and Panamic
Provinces only. I am well aware that I am entering a "brave new world" of
shell collecting as the hobby is getting tougher by the year, and I also
haven't chosen the easiest area to specialize...but I'm ready for the
challenge.

I will have many questions I hope some of you can answer, but I'll list one
today:

What is the health of the larger Conidae species of Utila Island, Honduras?
I know the area is now protected and thus prohibited of any collection, but
I'd like to know if C. sunderlandi, harlandi, and the interesting densely
patterned spurius are still alive and well.  I know that some areas in the
Bahamas have been hit pretty hard by hurricanes, so I'm trying to access the
health of some of my favorite species.

Also, I have a bunch of Utila spurius that are all around 30 mm.  Many
dealers have told me this is a dwarf population, but I don't believe
it...the lips are not mature on these specimens like the stunted ones I got
from Yucatan.  Can this population exceed 50mm?

Thanks,
Andre

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