Rat cone

Conus rattus

Molluscs
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–17 m
Water temperature4–30 °C
Best monthsJuly
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Conus rattus, common name the rat cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Conus rattus”, 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: 53 records
February: 65 records
March: 27 records
April: 17 records
May: 45 records
June: 43 records
July: 239 records
August: 50 records
September: 33 records
October: 43 records
November: 33 records
December: 36 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–17 m · Deepest record: 137.2 m

0–10 m: 39 records
10–20 m: 54 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 4–30 °C

2–4 °C: 2 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 12 records
24–26 °C: 115 records
26–28 °C: 189 records
28–30 °C: 280 records

Photos

(c) Almed2, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Takaaki Hattori, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Takaaki Hattori, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Rat cone, rat cone

Names in 3 more languages

German: Rattenkegel
Japanese: ハイイロミナシ
Simplified Chinese: 鼠芋螺

Other scientific names: Conus (Rhizoconus) rattus, Conus chemnitzii, Conus semivelatus, Conus tahitiensis, Conus viridis, Rhizoconus rattus

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).
768 open-data records from 1907 to 2021.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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