Vink (1984A) did not agree with my equating Conus flamingo with C. flavescens (Tucker, 1984). Vink maintained that the two can be separated by ecology with C. flamingo being an off shore species (type locality was cited as 47.5 m off Dania, Broward County, Florida by Petuch, 1980a), whereas G. flavescens occupies shallow back reef areas. The latter is not correct. I have numerous specimens of G. flavescens collected in waters deeper than 20 m off the east coast of Florida.
The snails that Vink (1984A) illustrated as flamingo in his figs. 3a and 3b are possibly two species. The specimen shown in Vink's fig. 3b may be a juvenile Conus amphiurgus. The only reliable means to distinguish C. amphiurgus juveniles from specimens of Conus flamingo are structures of the spire and protoconch. The spire tops of C. amphiurgus have 2 to 4 spiral cords on the whorl tops and a multispiral protoconch. The spire tops of C. flamingo (and C. flavescens) have the cords obsolete in the early whorls and have paucispiral protoconchs of about 2 whorls (Tucker & Tenorio, 2009).
The question remains are Conus flamingo and C. flavescens conspecific. I must admit that I probably erred in equating the two. However, that does not mean that I can distinguish them. The best way seems to be the anterior end coloration. In C. flamingo (and juvenile C. amphiurgus) the anterior end is brown colored. This coloration is usually darker than the coloration at midbody. In C. flavescens, the anterior end is colored the same shade as the body markings and often is mostly white .