Ribboned Cone Shell, Conus vittatus

Ribboned Cone Shell, Conus vittatus. Shell collected off the beach at Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, April 2022. Size: 4.8 cm (1.9 inches) x 2.9 cm (1.1 inches). Collection, photograph and Identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.

The Ribboned Cone, Conus vittatus (Hwass, C.H., 1792), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Conidae Family of Cones. They are known in Mexico as cono ceñido. The shell has a convex spire. The shell varies in color from pink-brown, maculated or strigated longitudinally with light chestnut, with chestnut-dotted revolving striate and a ceritall white, chestnut maculated band mid-shell. Ribboned Cones reach a maximum of 5.0 cm (2.0 inches) in length.

Ribboned Cones are found under rocks and sand within the intertidal zone to depths up to 30 m (100 feet). In Mexican waters they are within coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean within the lower three-fourths of the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.

Synonyms include Conus reevei, Poremskiconus vittatus and Purpuriconus vittatus.

From a conservation perspective the Ribboned Cone is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a minor component of shell trade collector market.