5th International Cone Meeting | Lisbon, Portugal: 13-15 September, 2019

The 2019 edition of the International Cone Meetings, held in Lisbon, Portugal, during the weekend of 13-15 September, went remarkably well.

Along the week immediately preceding the event, participants started to arrive in Lisbon, a city many were visiting for the first time, so that they could enjoy its many charms for a few days of vacation.

During the afternoon of Friday the 13 th September, everybody got together at the comfortable facilities of Lisbon’s Universidade Lusíada, where participants, upon registration, were given some documentation, partly having to do with the meeting itself, and part of a touristic and informative nature. Around 6:00 p.m. there was a short opening ceremony that of course included some Port wine and the delicious and unique “pastéis de Belém.”

In all, the meeting got together about 45 participants, from 14 different nationalities. Some of them already knew each other from several previous occasions, whereas others met for the first time, always something to celebrate.

Here are a few photos (unfortunately several of them of poor quality, due to problems with the camera used), to illustrate the general ambiance:

From left to right: Lucy Muehleisen, Edna & Brian Hammond, and António Monteiro

Mario Dublanka, Peter Bedbur, Paul Kersten and António Monteiro

José Rosado, Carlos Gonçalves, Carlos Durães de Carvalho, Armando Verdasca and António Monteiro

Geraldo Pomponet Oliveira, Dâmaso Monteiro, Paulo Granja and José Luís Távora

Roy Aiken, António Monteiro, Günther Herndl and Stephan Veldsman

On Saturday we had an early start, as already before 9:00 a.m. we were organizing the room where the mini-bourse was to take place. In the same room, a small exhibition was presented by the Centro Português de Actividades Subaquáticas (CPAS), represented by its president, Margarida Farrajota; this exhibition was dedicated to the work of Herculano Trovão and included type specimens for several of the Angolan species that he described.

Alistair Moncur and Fernando Serafim

An overall view of the mini-bourse

Naturally, during coffee breaks everybody went into the mini-bourse section and many had the opportunity of acquiring intersting specimens to enrich their collections.

As for the talks, it should be stressed that they were quite interesting. The previously announced program was followed closely, with the exception of the talk by Sophie Bary, from the Paris Natural History Museum, who was unable to come, due to health problems, and was replaced by Stephan Veldsman, who talked about South African Cones.

It is appropriate to highlight the general talk given by our Guest of Honour, Éric Monnier, current president of the Association Française de Conchyliologie (AFC), who was offered a plaque commemorative of the occasion.

Éric Monnier during his presentation

The catering for the two coffee breaks, handled by Maria Manuel Monteiro (who also baked most of the cookies and pastries) earned many compliments.

At 8;00 p.m. on Saturday a bus awaited the participants, to take them to the Caravela d’Ouro Restaurant, in Algés, where the official dinner for the Meeting took place. Once again, everybody was in an excellent mood, and the quality of the plentiful menu (including aperitifs, soup, two dishes and dessert) was enjoyed by all.

Global view of the dining room

Bill Fenzan, António Monteiro and Manuel Tenorio

Finally, on the morning of Sunday the 15th, a group of slightly over twenty participants travelled to Sintra in a freighted bus, in order to visit the wonderful and surprising Quinta da Regaleira. We stayed there all morning and returned to Lisbon at lunch time.

Bill Fenzan, Stephan Veldsman, Pascal Wink and Paul Kersten

Alistair Moncur, Éric Monnier, Günther Herndl and António Monteiro

Edna & Brian Hammond, Stephan Veldsman, Richard Lewis and António Monteiro

Éric Monnier and Andreia Salvador

5th International Cone Meeting Group portrait, on the 14 th September, 2019

So, as said above, everything went as planned and to the general satisfaction. Once more the organizers must thank all participants, whose presence was of course imperative to make a big success of our Meeting; special thanks are due to all the speakers, who certainly raised this event to the high standards we have got used to in the past.

Soon we will start to work on a next meeting, whose date and location will be announced when set.