Conus aureus

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

Conus aureus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
Conus aureus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792

Conus aureus
Five views of a shell of Conus aureus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species:
C. aureus
Binomial name
Conus aureus
Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Synonyms[1]
  • Conus (Cylinder) aureus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 · accepted, alternate representation
  • Conus aureus aureus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
  • Conus auricomus Lamarck, 1810 (invalid: junior homonym of Conus auricomus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)
  • Cylinder aureus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)
  • Cylinder aureus aureus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)

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

Subspecies
  • Conus aureus paulucciae G. B. Sowerby III, 1887

Distribution

This marine species occurs off New Caledonia, Tuamotu, Indo-China, Indo-Malaysia and from Japan to Queensland, Australia.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 40 mm and 80 mm. The shell is subcylindrical, with fine revolving striae. It has an orange-brown color, very finely reticulated with chestnut, with larger subtriangular spots of white, aggregated into masses and bands at the shoulder, middle and base. There are usually a number of longitudinal streaks of chestnut running over the orange-brown reticulated spaces.[2]

References
  1. Conus aureus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 27 March 2010.
  2. G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
  • Bruguière, M. 1792. Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par ordre de matières. Histoire naturelle des vers. Paris : Panckoucke Vol. 1 i–xviii, 757 pp.
  • Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1810. Suite des espèces du genre Cône. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 15: 263–286, 422–442
  • Reeve, L.A. 1843. Monograph of the genus Conus. pls 1–39 in Reeve, L.A. (ed.). Conchologica Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 1.
  • Hinton, A. 1972. Shells of New Guinea and the Central Indo-Pacific. Milton : Jacaranda Press xviii 94 pp.
  • Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. Tropical Pacific marine shells. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls.
  • Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp.
  • Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2013) Illustrated catalog of the living cone shells. 517 pp. Wellington, Florida: MdM Publishing.
  • 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
  • The Conus Biodiversity website
  • Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
  • "Cylinder aureus aureus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
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