A Taxonomic Iconography of Living Conidae

He obtained a diploma of Engineer in Chemistry at INSA in Toulouse (1977), PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (1982) and DSc / HDR in Organic and Biological Chemistry in 1992. He taught Chemistry at the IUT of Cumana (Venezuela) and in ENS of Fes (Morocco). Since 1984, Eric has been working at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) in Paris and at the Institut National des Sciences et Techniques de la Mer (INTECHMER) in Cherbourg. Collecting shells and classify them has been a passion since he was very young. He specialized in Cones and since 2009 he co-described 34 new species and 2 genera of Cones. He and Alain Robin are research volunteers in the laboratory of Malacology at the MNHN. Eric Monnier is currently acting as President of the Association Française de Conchyliologie (AFC).

He began collecting shells in 1978 when he was still a twelve year old secondary school student. With time Loïc restricted his interest to a limited number of families. He then started to study the taxonomy of these families with a special interest in Conidae. This resulted in the description of more than 20 new species, 1 genus and 1 subfamily and this book. Loïc Limpalaër has been a member of the Board of the French club A.F.C. as its Treasurer since 1999. He also works as a chartered accountant in an audit firm and enjoys his family life with his wife Melba and their three children.

Alain has had a long and varied career as an Officer in the Merchant Navy and the French Navy as well, Production Manager in the Chemical Industry and finally as an Information Technology Manager. He worked for many years abroad, in the South Pacific Ocean, sailing from Australia to French Polynesia, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast and Argentina. Alain Robin retired in 2000 and has devoted his time to the French Conchological Association as editor of the magazines Xenophora and Xenophora Taxonomy. He has also published, alone or with friends, several popular books on shells, especially the Encyclopedia of Marine Gastropods.

After a career of over 25 years in export of medical devices that took him over five continents, Christophe decided to become more sedentary and re-orientate his activities as a consultant and professor to share his experiences with students and new exporters. This has been also the opportunity to re-discover one of his oldest passions. He started as a young teenager collecting seashells with an advertising-loyalty program led by Royal Dutch Shell in the late seventies. From a general collector Christophe Roux quickly specialized into the Cones of which he appreciates the beauty, variability, scientific interest. This fits directly with his original training as a chemist.