Common Name

"Augur Cone"

Status

Regarded as a valid species.

Type Locality

Not mentioned, designated (Coomans, Moolenbeek & Wils) Island of Ceylon, (Sri Lanka)

Distribution

E. Africa to W. Thailand; probably Moluccas.

Maximum Reported Size

80 mm

Description

Medium-sized to moderately large, solid to heavy. Last whorl conical; outline convex at adapical third, slightly concave at central third and almost straight below. Shoulder subangulate to sharply angulate. Spire usually low; outline concave to convex. Larval shell of about 2 wide whorls. Teleoconch sutural ramps concave, with densely set, fine to pronounced axial threads crossing 3-4 major spiral grooves in later whorls; additional spiral threads on last ramps. Last whorl with closely spaced spiral threads from base to shoulder.

Ground colour cream, suffused with yellow or orange. Last whorl with numerous spiral rows of fine reddish brown dots from base to shoulder and with a spiral band of reddish brown to dark brown axial blotches on each side of centre. Larval shell white. Teleoconch sutural ramps with moderately dense, reddish to dark brown, curved axial streaks, often reduced to a pre-sutural and a sub-sutural row of spots. Aperture white, often variously tinged with orange. Periostracum greyish brown to blackish brown, thick, opaque, and axially ridged.

Shell Morphometry

L	50-76 mm
RW	0.53-1.27 g/mm (L 50-68 mm)
RD	0.57-0.69
PMD	0.85-0.93
RSH	0.05-0.13

Habitat & Habits

In 3-25 m; living in muddy sand, on coral rubble and beneath rocks.

Discussion

C. augur is a very distinctive species characterized by a striking conchological uniformity within and between populations.

References

• Cat. Portland Mus: p. 44, no. 1046, not figured.
• Lectotype representative (Kohn) figure in Knorr, 1772, pl. 13, fig. 6 (fig. 51 x 27 mm).