''Conus aureus'', common name the aureus 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 in the family

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 ...

and their allies. Conus aureus 1

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 preferably not at all. ;Subspecies: * ''Conus aureus paulucciae'' G. B. Sowerby III, 1887

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

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 ...

, 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.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
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References

* 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

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus aureus aureus Gastropods described in 1792