''Calamiconus'' is a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s in the genus ''

Conus ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

'',

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Conidae Conidae, with the current common name of "cone snails", is a taxonomic family (previously subfamily) of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Conoidea. The 2014 classification of the superfamily Conoidea, groups onl ...

, the

cone snails A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines co ...

and their allies. In the new classification of the family Conidae by Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015), ''Calamiconus'' has become a subgenus of ''Conus'': ''Conus (Lividiconus)'' (Tucker & Tenorio, 2009) represented as ''

'' Thiele, 1929 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
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Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes ''Calamiconus'' from ''Conus'' in the following ways:Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp. * Genus ''Conus'' ''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' Linnaeus, 1758 :: Shell characters (living and fossil species) :::The basic shell shape is conical to elongated conical, has a deep anal notch on the shoulder, a smooth

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

and a small operculum. The shoulder of the shell is usually nodulose and the

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

is usually multispiral. Markings often include the presence of tents except for black or white color variants, with the absence of spiral lines of minute tents and textile bars. ::Radular tooth (not known for fossil species) :::The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

has an elongated anterior section with serrations and a large exposed terminating cusp, a non-obvious waist, blade is either small or absent and has a short barb, and lacks a basal spur. ::Geographical distribution :::These species are found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region. ::Feeding habits :::These species eat other

s including cones. * Subgenus ''Calamiconus'' Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 ::Shell characters (living and fossil species) :::The

is multispiral, the shell is conical, the whorl tops have cords, and the shell has a moderate to deep anal notch. The

is smooth, and the operculum is small. ::Radular tooth (not known for fossil species) :::The anterior section of the

is much longer than posterior section, and the waist is indistinct. A basal spur is present, the barb and blade are short. Serrations are completely absent. ::Geographical distribution :::These species are found throughout the Indo-Pacific region. ::Feeding habits :::These species are vermivorous (meaning that they prey on marine worms). ''Calamiconus lischkeanus'' (Weinkauff, 1875) has been found feeding on polychaetes,

Amphinomidae Amphinomidae, also known as the bristle worms or sea mice, are a family of marine polychaetes, many species of which bear chaetae mineralized with carbonate. The best-known amphinomids are the fireworms, which can cause great pain if their toxin ...

, and

Terebellidae The Terebellidae is a marine family of polychaete worms, of which the type taxon is ''Terebella'', described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Characteristics Most terebellids live in burrows or crevices and ar ...

Species list

This list of species is based on the information in the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

(

WoRMS Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

) list. Species within the genus ''Calamiconus'' include: * ''Calamiconus escondidai'' (Poppe & Tagaro, 2005): synonym of '' Conus escondidai'' Poppe & Tagaro, 2005 * ''Calamiconus eximius'' (Reeve, 1849): synonym of '' Conus eximius'' Reeve, 1849 * ''Calamiconus garywilsoni'' (Lorenz & Morrison, 2004): synonym of '' Conus garywilsoni'' Lorenz & Morrison, 2004 * ''Calamiconus jeffreyi'' Petuch & Sargent, 2011: synonym of '' Conus quercinus'' ightfoot 1786 * ''Calamiconus kermadecensis'' (Iredale, 1912): synonym of '' Conus kermadecensis'' Iredale, 1912 * ''Calamiconus lischkeanus'' (Weinkauff, 1875): synonym of '' Conus lischkeanus'' Weinkauff, 1875 * ''Calamiconus quercinus'' Lightfoot, 1786: synonym of '' Conus quercinus'' Lightfoot, 1786

Significance of "alternative representation"

Prior to 2009, all species within the family

were placed in one genus, ''

''. In 2009 however, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the over 600 recognized

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

that were in the family. Their classification proposed 3 distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of

. This classification was based upon

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

r differences,

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

cladistics Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

, with comparisons to molecular (DNA) studies. Published accounts of genera within the

that include the genus ''Calamiconus'' include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011). Testing in order to try to understand the molecular phylogeny of the

was initially begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn, and is continuing, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing. However, in 2011, some experts still prefer to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in ''

'' within the single family

: for example, according to the current November 2011 version of the

, all species within the family Conidae are in the genus ''

''. The binomial names of species in the 82 cone snail genera listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are recognized by the

as "alternative representations." Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continues, and additional molecular phylogeny studies are being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.B. Vallejo, Jr. (2005), ''Inferring the mode of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae)'', Journal of Biogeography 32:1429-1439. All this has been superseded in 2015 by the new classification of the Conidae

References

External links

To World Register of Marine Species

Gastropods.com: ''Conidae'' setting forth the genera recognized therein.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5018404 Conidae Gastropod subgenera

Distinguishing characteristics

Species list

Significance of "alternative representation"

References

Further reading

External links