The Cone Collector
Cone Identification.
Identification of specimens remains a challenge for all members of the collector community.
The Cone Collector website
You will find on this website the Paul Kersten Guide which illustrates the type specimen for cone names which today are considered species and collectable distinctive forms plus summarised descriptive information. In addition, the guide offers pictures of a range of specimens for each taxon.
For information and pictures of all published names, you can consult the Filmer 2011 section of this website which offers type pictures and information on every name published of recent Conidae. More recent names can be found in the WhatsNew section of this website.
A number of articles have been published in Cone Collector magazine which illustrate cones for selected geographic areas. Links to PDF files are provided below.
a special edition of Cone Collector by John Tucker dedicated to Western Atlantic cones.
A review of the Cones of French Polynesia by David Touitou and Michel Balleton (2014).
A review of the Cones of Martinique and Guadeloupe by David Touitou and Janine Jacques(2014)
Published books on Cones
Geographic guides to Conidae have been published by ConchBooks in the Iconography series which provide information on the Conidae of the region together with pictures of the different forms.
®The West African and Mediterranean species of Conus.
®The South African species of Conus
®The Cones of the Eastern Pacific
We are pleased to extend our partnership with www.Conchbooks.de with the availability on this website of the book “ Manual of Living Conidae v1”. The book published in 1995 is now out of print but remains an excellent guide to the cones of the Indo-Pacific region. This work by Dieter Rockel , Werner Korn and Alan Kohn continues to have the respect of all cone collectors.
We thank Dr. Carsten Renker and Klaus Groh of Conchbooks and the three authors for their agreement and support for its publication.
Recent books on Western Atlantic cones, details in Whats New section of this website include
The Cone Shells of Florida
by John Tucker
Conus of the Southeastern
United States and Caribbean by Alan J. Kohn
Biogeography and
Biodiversity of Western Atlantic Mollusks by Ed Petuch
A 2014 survey by Cone
Collector highlighted these websites as most useful :
Eddie Hardy’s www.gastropods.com was rated most highly for assistance with identification.
Poppe Encyclopedia : a website offering pictures of mainly Indo-Pacific shells.
Femorale Photo Gallery: a website offering pictures of mainly Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific shells.
WORMS a scientific database of current recorded names.
Biodiversity Heritage website offering downloads of most publications published before 1923 and free from copyright.
A wide range of information can be found on the Conus Biodiversity website which was created by Alan Kohn. It has a wealth of information including many type pictures, original descriptions and database searching
You are encouraged to offer any suggestions for improvement in the cone content of these websites and to contribute any pictures from your collection which would improve their effectiveness.