''Conasprella comatosa'', common name comatose cone, is a species of

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 ...

, a marine

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 ...

in the

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. Like all species within the genus ''Conasprella'', these snails are

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

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 20 mm and 60 mm.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean off

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Northwest

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

References

* Pilsbry, H.A. 1904. ''New Japanese marine Mollusca: Pelecypoda.'' Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 56: 550–561, pls 39–41 * Schepman, M.M. 1913. ''Toxoglossa''. 384–396 in Weber, M. & de Beaufort, L.F. (eds). The Prosobranchia, Pulmonata and Opisthobranchia Tectibranchiata, Tribe Bullomorpha, of the Siboga Expedition. Monograph 49. Siboga Expeditie 32(2) * Fulton, H.C. 1936. ''Molluscan Notes 6''. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 22: 7–8 * 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''. 4 September 2009 Edition * Puillandre N., Meyer C.P., Bouchet P. & Olivera B.M. (2011) ''Genetic divergence and geographic variation in the deep-water Conus orbignyi complex (Mollusca: Conoidea)''. Zoologica Scripta 40(4): 350–363. * Severns M. (2011) ''Shells of the Hawaiian Islands – The Sea Shells''. Conchbooks, Hackenheim. 564 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.
File:Conus comatosa1.jpg, ''Conasprella comatosa'' Pilsbry, H.A., 1904 File:Conus comatosa2.jpg, ''Conasprella comatosa'' Pilsbry, H.A., 1904

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
comatosa Gastropods of Australia Molluscs of Japan Molluscs of the Philippines Gastropods described in 1904 {{conus-stub