''Conus dalli'', common name Dall's 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 ''Conus'', 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 Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all. Not to be confused with † ''Conus dalli'' Toula, 1911 which is, according to Fossilworks, a synonym of † '' Conus imitator'' Brown and Pilsbry 1911

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 32 mm and 80 mm. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is indistinctly grooved. 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 obscurely spirally ribbed below. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, with reddish brown longitudinal stripes, interrupted by four revolving bands of white spots, and occasional white spots on the darker surface. The interior of the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

is rosy pink.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Eastern Pacific off the Galapagos Islands, and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Type locality: Islas Marias, Golfo de California.Tenorio M.J., Tucker J.K. & Chaney H.W. (2012). ''The Families Conilithidae and Conidae. The Cones of the Eastern Pacific''. In: Poppe G.T. & Groh K. (eds): ''A Conchological Iconography''. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 112 pp., 88 pls.

Notes

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

References

* Stearns, R. E. 1873. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 5: p. 79, pl. 1, fig. 1. * Filmer R.M. (2001).'' A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 – 1998''. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp * Tenorio M.J., Tucker J.K. & Chaney H.W. (2012). ''The Families Conilithidae and Conidae. The Cones of the Eastern Pacific''. In: Poppe G.T. & Groh K. (eds): ''A Conchological Iconography''. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 112 pp., 88 pls. * Tucker J.K. (2009). ''Recent cone species database''. September 4, 2009 Edition * Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009). ''Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods''. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 296 pp. * Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2013) ''Illustrated catalog of the living cone shells.'' 517 pp. Wellington, Florida: MdM Publishing.

Gallery

File:Conus dalli 1.jpg, ''Conus dalli'' Stearns, 1873 File:Conus dalli 2.jpg, ''Conus dalli'' Stearns, 1873 File:Conus dalli 3.jpg, ''Conus dalli'' Stearns, 1873

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Dalli dalli Gastropods described in 1873