Medium-sized, moderately solid to solid; Size varies with location. Last whorl ventricosely conical or conoid- cylindrical to ovate; outline variably convex adapically, less so (right side) or slightly concave (left side) toward base. Aperture wider at base than near shoulder. Shoulder subangulate to angulate. Spire low, outline straight to concave. First 5-6 postnuclear whorls tuberculate. Teleoconch sutural ramps concave, with a prominent subsutural ridge and 1 increasing to 3-6 spiral grooves. Last whorl with 7-13 well separated punctate spiral grooves on abapical third and 4-9 grooves below shoulder; ribbons between grade to ribs basally and sometimes at shoulder. Length: 35-56 mm. Ground colour white, partially suffused with pink to purple. Last whorl with 3 rather broad spiral bands of confluent violet or brown nebulous flecks and tent-like spots, below shoulder, just above centre, and within abapical third, alternating with 3-4 rather narrow spiral zones of very small brown to dark reddish or purplish brown triangular spots. Colour bands contain prominent to obsolete spiral rows of irregularly alternating white and brown dots and dashes. Larval whorls purple. Later postnuclear sutural ramps with purple or brown radial streaks and blotches, and with brown dots on subsutural ridge. Aperture yellow to orange within. Periostracum almost colourless, thin, translucent, and smooth (Hart, 1991).
Body pattern similar to that of the shell but in lighter violet (Richards, pers. comm., 1988); animal cream with light violet lines, with a dark purplish brown ring around siphon

With truly spellbinding patterns the « Rhododendron Cone » is a great classic rarity among the conids and one of the most sought-after by collectors. One of S. Peter Dance's 50 « Rare Shells » (1969), it is still a very difficult shell to obtain today in fine condition. Although it is often beached after typhoons pass, but such specimens are typicall worn with badly damaged lip. A predatory gastropod like all conids, it is a piscivorous species which hunt fishes using venom injected from its harpoon-like radula. It inhabits sandy bottoms of coral reefs and lagoons and may be found from low intertidal waters down to moderate depths around -60m deep. The shell characteristically carry three broad spiral bands with sparse nebulous patterns which alternate with another three narrower spiral bands with small triangular spots. It has a rather wide distribution range in the Pacific Ocean ranging from Coral Sea to French Polynesia, and varies slightly in form, size, as well as pattern depending on the locality. Specimens from the Marquesas Islands, for example, are rather large and instantly recognisable by their exceptionally intense colouration and more cylindrical (rather than conical) form. Its vernacular name comes from a famous synonym, Conus rhododendron Jay, 1839, which is very appropriate but unfortunately must give way to Broderip's earlier name. Typical shell length around 35-40mm. depending on the locality, extremely large specimens are known to exceed 55mm.

S. Pacific from Coral Sea to French Polynesia.