Shell 30 to 45 mm long. Shape in adult shells alike for both small and large individuals. The peripheral shoulder is rounded, spire moderately high. The ground colour is white with a grayish-blue sheen, marked with longitudinal flames. Often the light spiral band beneath the lower middle of the last whorl is not prominent.
Usually there are three zones of colour-intensity on the sides of the last whorl, the darkest near the spire and the lightest near the base. Spire with just as many white blotches as the last whorl. Flammulation brown to chestnut-brown, juveniles often darker than adults. Interrupted spiral lines form flammulations. Spiral threads variable and ridge-like near the base.
The shells from Jandia (Fuerteventura) measure 30 to 37 mm in length. Their colour is bluish-white with yellowish-brown, red-brown, to dark brown mottling. Fresh specimens arc covered by a rather thin, yellowish-olive-brown periostracum. They are usually of a lighter colour than those from the other islands of the Canary Islands and the African coast. Material from the following localities has been Studied: Fuertcvcntura, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Teneriffe (all Canary Islands), Cadiz (southern tip of Spain), and Spanish Morocco.

C. mediterratieus and C. guinaicus can hardly be distinguished conchologically. Shells of C mediterraneus are usually smaller than those of C guinaicus. The colour pattern in C. mediterraneus is composed of dots forming longitudinal ziczac stripes, while C. guinaicus shows a flame pattern, the flames being composed of short spiral lines. Dark colours in C. guinaicus tend more towards reddish to chestnut-brown, while in C. mediterraneus they are olive-brown. The spire shows more white mottling in C. guinaicus than in C. mediterraneus. On the whole, identification by means of colour and size differences is hampered by the fact that both species show a considerable amount of variation. Their choice of food is to be regarded as quite common for most species of the genus Conus, which are normally vermivorous (Lim, 1969; Kohn, Nybakken & Van Mol, 1972; Kndean & Kudkin, 1965). Also in their ecological requirements both species are very similar and prefer soft substrates close to the shore. Both species can be separated satisfactorily by studying their distribution, egg cases, embryonic shells and radulae. C. mediterraneus seems to be restricted to the Mediterranean and is the only member of the genus there. To our knowledge, C. guinaicus penetrates the Mediterranean only near the Strait of Gibraltar, but otherwise is a Lusitanic species (Portuguese south coast, North-West Africa, Canary Islands).