''Conus hyaena'', common name the hyena 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. These snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all. ;Subspecies: * ''Conus hyaena concolor'' G. B. Sowerby II, 1841 (synonym: ''Conus concolor'' G. B. Sowerby II, 1841) * ''Conus hyaena hyaena'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 29 mm and 80.5 mm. The shell is somewhat swollen above. The spire is striate. The color of the shell is light yellowish brown, variegated by darker striations, and faint revolving lines or rows of spots, often indistinctly lighter-banded in the middle. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 40; 1879 (described as ''Conus mutabilis'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar, in the Bay of Bengal, and in the Pacific Ocean off the Philippines and Indonesia; in the South China Sea.

References

* Dautzenberg, P. (1923). L''iste préliminaire des mollusques marins de Madagascar et description de deux especes nouvelles.'' Journal de Conchyliologie 68: 21–74 * da Motta, A. J. 1983. ''Two new species for the genus Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae).'' Publicações Ocasionais da Sociedade Portuguesa de Malacologia 2:1–7, 13 figs. * 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''. September 4, 2009 Edition

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
*
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus hyaena hyaena Gastropods described in 1792