Conics in finite projective planes

There does not exist a general theory of conics in finite projective planes, because the many definitions of conics which are equivalent in desarguesian projective planes yield different types of conics in more general situations. Thus even the use of the word conic can lead to confusion, particularly in the finite case. This note is an attempt to clarify these various definitions and give as an example in a finite projective plane a von Staudt conic which is not an Ostrom conic. We conjecture that any finite projective plane admitting an Ostrom conic must be desarguesian.