Marble cone

Conus marmoreus

Molluscs
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–22 m
Water temperature15–30 °C
Best monthsJuly
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Didier Descouens, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Conus marmoreus (common name the marbled cone) is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. It is the type species for the genus Conus, which is the type genus of the family. This is a species which is believed to feed mostly on marine mollusks including other cone snails. This snail is venomous, like all cone snails.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Conus marmoreus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 23 records
February: 26 records
March: 28 records
April: 42 records
May: 42 records
June: 65 records
July: 186 records
August: 68 records
September: 55 records
October: 43 records
November: 42 records
December: 33 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–22 m · Deepest record: 95 m

0–10 m: 48 records
10–20 m: 17 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 102 records
26–28 °C: 91 records
28–30 °C: 179 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shelomi Doyle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Marble cone, Marbled cone, marble cone, marbled cone

Names in 3 more languages

German: Marmorkegel
French: Cône marbré, Cône-damier
Japanese: ナンヨウクロミナシ

Other scientific names: Conus (Conus) marmoreus, Conus crosseanus, Conus maculatus, Conus pseudomarmoreus, Conus suffusus, Cucullus proarchithalassus

Similar species

Sand-dusted cone
Conus arenatus
Captain cone
Conus capitaneus
Cat cone
Conus catus
Astrologer's cone
Conus chaldaeus
Coronated cone
Conus coronatus
Conus distans

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
762 open-data records from 1906 to 2022.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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