Puzzled Cone Shell, Conasprella perplexa

Puzzled Cone Shell, Conasprella perplexa. Shell collected off the beach at Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, May 2022. Size: 3.0 cm (1.2 inches) x 1.9 cm (0.7 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.

Phylogeny: The Puzzled Cone Shell, Conasprella perplexa (G. B. Sowerby II, 1857) is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Conidae Family of Cones Shells. The genus Conasprella is one of eight genera in this family, and there are one hundred seventy-six species in this genus. In Mexico they are known as Cono Perplejo.

Description: Puzzled Cone Shells are medium sized, solid cones. They have a moderately high spire. The exterior may be white, light gray, pinkish, or pale violet in color, with variable spiral rows of brown dots and dashes. Some may be marked with bands, stripes or blotches. Inside the aperture is pale violet.  The shell is covered with a thin, light-colored periostracum. Puzzled Cone Shells reach a maximum of 4.0 cm (1.5 inches) in length. The similar looking Ximenes Cone, Conasprella ximenes, is narrower, usually has a higher, more sharply pointed apex, and has a row of dots above and below the suture.

Habitat and Distribution: Puzzled Cones are found on sand and rock substrates from the intertidal zone to depths of 37 m (121 feet). They are a subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species that are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from north of San Juanico, Baja California Sur, along the central and northwest coasts of the Baja Peninsula.

Ecology and Behavior: Puzzled Cones are predators that feed primarily on polychaeta worms. They are gonochoric and reproduce sexually,  with internal fertilization. Their engagement in any type of commensal, parasitic, or symbiotic relationship has not been formally documented. From a conservation perspective the Puzzled Cone Shell is currently considered to be of Least Concern, with stable, widely distributed populations. Cone Shells are venomous and capable of stinging human and should be handled with great care if live organisms are present.

Synonyms:  Conasprella (Ximeniconus) perplexa, Conus perplexus, Perplexiconus perplexus and Ximeniconus perplexus.