Conus is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae. Prior to 2009, cone snail species had all traditionally been grouped into the single genus Conus. However, Conus is now more precisely defined, and there are several other accepted genera of cone snails. For a list of the currently accepted genera, see Conidae.
For a list of the currently accepted species within the genus Conus, based on the information in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) list, see: list of Conus species.
Species in the genus Conus sensu stricto can be found in the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, at depths ranging from the sublittoral to 1,000 m. They are very variable in some of their characters, such as the tuberculation of the spire and body whorl, striae, colors and the pattern of coloring. Many fossil species have been described; they are extensively distributed, and first appear in Cretaceous strata.
Description
The thick shell of species in the genus Conus sensu stricto, is obconic, with the whorls enrolled upon themselves. The spire is short, smooth or tuberculated. The narrow aperture is elongated with parallel margins parallel and is truncated at the base. The operculum is very small relative to the size of the shell. It is corneous, narrowly elongated, with an apical nucleus, and the impression of the muscular attachment varies from one-half to two-thirds of the inner surface. The outer lip shows a slight sutural sinus.
List of synonyms and alternate representations
As this list shows, many genera that were formerly recognized within the family Conidae, have become subgenera of Conus, and they can also be represented by that subgeneric name as an "alternate representation".
See also
- Cone snail: general characteristics.
References
- Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp.
- Filmer R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 - 1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp.
- Tucker J.K. (2009). Recent cone species database. September 4, 2009 Edition
- Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp
- Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015). One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 81: 1-23
Further reading
- Kohn A. A. (1992). Chronological Taxonomy of Conus, 1758-1840. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London.