Hi All,

Good question about how long the conchs and cones live.
It seems like the conch question has been pretty well an-
wered, but the Conus textile question is a little bit harder.
It looks like the ones in my aquarium are only going to grow
at about 10-15mm per year, but I certainly don't claim to
have them in the optimal growth situation.  You could try
to extrapolate that into size versus years, I guess, but it
definitely appears that some cones reach a certain size and
don't grow any more.  I haven't seen it in Conus textile,
but in Conus virgo, C. leopardus, C. flavidus and C. quercinus,
the large ones have often formed a "bead" of almost pearl-
escent material along the lip, and appear to only be adding to
the thickness of the lip without extending the outer whorl.
You may have noticed that all of these cones are worm-eaters,
so the molluscivores may do nothing of the sort.

Cheers,



Don
(HNL 201R@2599mi)