''Conus capitaneus'', common name the captain 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 co ...

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

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 50 mm and 98 mm. Its low spire is striate, flamed with chocolate and white. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is yellowish, or orange-brown, encircled by rows of chestnut dots, usually stained chocolate at the base. There is a central white band, with chocolate hieroglyphic markings on either side, and a shoulder-band, crossed by chocolate smaller longitudinal markings. The aperture is white. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology, vol. VI, p. 40; 1879

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius and Tanzania; and in the Indo-West Pacific (off Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga,

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 ...

); off

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 South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia), File:Conus capitaneus 1.jpg, ''Conus capitaneus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus capitaneus 2.jpg, ''Conus capitaneus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus capitaneus 3.jpg, ''Conus capitaneus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus capitaneus 4.jpg, ''Conus capitaneus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758

References

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp
* 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. * Crosse, M. 1858. ''Descriptions de coquilles nouvelles''. Journal de Conchyliologie 2 7(3): 380–384 * Brazier, J. 1877. ''Continuation of the Mollusca of the Chevert Expedition, with new species''. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1(4): 283–301 * Hedley, C. 1899. ''The Mollusca of Funafuti. Part 1. Gastropoda''. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 3(7): 395–488, 49 text figs * 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) * Allan, J.K. 1950. ''Australian Shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land. Melbourne'' : Georgian House xix, 470 pp., 45 pls, 112 text figs. * Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods''. Pacific Science 11(3): 275–341, fig. 2, pl. 1 * McMichael, D.F. 1960. ''Shells of the Australian Sea-Shore''. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press 127 pp., 287 figs. * Rippingale, O.H. & McMichael, D.F. 1961. ''Queensland and Great Barrier Reef Shells''. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press 210 pp. * Cotton, B.C. 1964. ''Molluscs of Arnhem Land.'' Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land 4 (Zoology): 9–43 * Wilson, B.R. & Gillett, K. 1971. ''Australian Shells: illustrating and describing 600 species of marine gastropods found in Australian waters.'' Sydney : Reed Books 168 pp. * 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. * Kay, E.A. 1979. ''Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and shore fauna of Hawaii. Section 4 : Mollusca''. Honolulu, Hawaii : Bishop Museum Press Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication Vol. 64(4) 653 pp. * Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice * Wils, E. 1969–1972. ''Familie Conidae''; werkgroep "Xenophora". Antwerpen : J. Kruyniers 28 *-Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * 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''. 4 September 2009 Edition * Spencer, H.; Marshall. B. (2009). ''All Mollusca except Opisthobranchia.'' In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 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

External links

*
The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Capitaneus capitaneus Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus