Subgenus Taranteconus Azuma, 1972

According to Phuong et al. (2019), Conus (Taranteconus) chiangi (Azuma, 1972), which is the type species of the (sub)genus Taranteconus, is sister to a clade containing the Indo-Pacific species assigned to the (sub)genus Rhombiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 . These two groups are sister to another clade composed of western Atlantic and eastern Pacific species of cones, including Conus (Stephanoconus) regius Gmelin, 1791, the type species of the (sub)genus Stephanoconus M̂rch, 1852. All these species from very distant geographic areas had so far been lumped in the supraspecific taxon Stephanoconus . In addition to the geographic separation, the species in Taranteconus exhibit very distinct shell and radular morphologies which allow a clear separation from species in Stephanoconus and also from Rhombiconus (Tucker & Tenorio 2013) . Hence, the phylogenetic relationship between the (sub) genera Taranteconus, Rhombiconus and Stephanoconus is formally analogous to that existing between Kurodaconus, Mitraconus and Turriconus (see above). For this reason, we hereby consider Taranteconus a valid supraspecific taxon, rather than a synonym of Stephanoconus .