Conus caracteristicus

Conus caracteristicus, common name the characteristic cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[1]

Conus caracteristicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Clade: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species:
C. caracteristicus
Binomial name
Conus caracteristicus
Synonyms[1]
  • Conus (Puncticulis) caracteristicus Fischer von Waldheim, 1807 · accepted, alternate representation
  • Conus brevis E. A. Smith, 1877
  • Conus characteristicus Dillwyn, 1817
  • Conus masoni H. Nevill & N. Nevill, 1874
  • Conus muscosus Lamarck, 1810
  • Lithoconus caracteristicus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807)
  • Tesselliconus caracteristicus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807)

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 19 mm and 88 mm. The color of the shell is white, irregularly longitudinally flamed, forming two (or sometimes three) interrupted broad bands. The body whorl is somewhat inflated, rounded at the upper part, striate below. The spire is striate.[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and East Africa; from the Bay of Bengal to Indonesia and Japan

References

  • The Conus Biodiversity website
  • Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
  • "Lithoconus caracteristicus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  • Holotype in MNHN, Paris
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