33 international shell magazine Year XXXVI, n. 310 New species of Conus from Cape Verde Description of a new offshore species of Conus from the Cape Verde Archipelago (Gastropoda, Conidae). Carlos M.L. Afonso & Manuel J. Tenorio Keywords Conus atlanticoselvagem, Conidae, Gastropoda, João Valente Bank, Boavista Island, Cape Verde Islands, endemism. Abstract Conus atlanticoselvagem n. sp., a new species of Conidae from the João Valente Bank, an offshore submerged mount 30 miles SW of Boavista Is- land, Cape Verde, is described. The most immedi- ate distinctive features of the shell of the new species are: light pink-violet background color; vivid pink-violet color of the aperture and col- umella; pattern composed of golden brown to purplish brown blotches arranged in three spiral bands; spire domed, mamillated, with pinkish protoconch, patterned with golden brown flecks. Details on the radula are also discussed. This species is compared to other members of the Conus venulatus complex. Introduction The Cape Verde Archipelago is unusually rich in species of the genus Conus with a typically high level of endemism irregularly scattered in geo- graphical micro-populations restricted to a group of islands, a single island, or even inhabiting only a particular zone in one island. Around 50 recog- nized species of the genus have been recorded for this archipelago, most of them recently described. Only three of them, C. tabidus Reeve, 1844, C. genuanus Linné, 1758, and C. ermineus Born, 1778, are considered non-endemic and also occur in the West African coast. C. ermineus is also found in the Caribbean Sea. Most of the under- standing of the “puzzle” of the cone biodiversity in Cape Verde Islands has been carried out by several authors (ROLÁN, 1986, 1990, 1991; TRO- VÃO & ROLÁN, 1986; MONTEIRO et al. , 1995; ROLÁN et al., 1998) in relatively recent years fol- lowing the pioneering works by TROVÃO (1979) and by RÖCKEL et al. (1980). During the years 2001 and 2002, in the course of the Atlântico Sel- vagem Expeditions IV and V, sampling took place in unexplored areas of Banco João Valente (João Valente Bank), an offshore sea-mountain located between Boavista and Maio Islands (Fig. 1). This survey led to the collection of specimens of an un- described species of the genus Conus (Figs. 2-5) that represents the first record of an offshore, iso- lated Conus population endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. Fig. 1: Location map of type locality, João Valente Bank.