''Conus marmoreus'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the "marbled cone", is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 snail 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 con ...

s, cone shells or cones. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

for the genus

Conus ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

. This is a species which is believed to feed mostly on marine molluscs including other cone snails.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215457 on 2015-10-30 This snail is venomous, like all cone snails. The subspecies: ''Conus marmoreus bandanus'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 is a synonym of '' Conus bandanus'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off

Chagos The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

off India; in the western part of the Pacific Ocean to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

; off Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Shell description

The size of an adult shell can vary between 30 mm and 150 mm. The flattish

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 nodular. The outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

flares towards posterior. In this species, the distinctive, reticulated colour pattern can range from black with white dots, to orange with white reticulations, so arranged as to expose the white in rounded triangular large spots. 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 white or light pink.

George Washington Tryon George Washington Tryon Jr. (20 May 1838 – 5 February 1888) was an American malacologist who worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Biography George Washington Tryon was the son of Edward K. Tryon and Adeline Savidt. ...

, ''Manual of Conchology'' vol. VI, p. 7; 1879

In art

In 1650

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

portrayed this cone in an etching as "De schelp" ("The shell"). B159 Rembrandt

Gallery

Image:Conus-marmoreus-001.jpg, The shell of ''Conus marmoreus'' from ''Index Testarum Conchyliorum'' (1742) by

Niccolò Gualtieri Niccolò Gualtieri (9 July 1688 – 15 February 1744) was an Italian doctor and malacologist. He established a private natural history collection, and catalogued its contents, the best known being of the molluscs. Gualtieri was born in Florenc ...

Image:Conusmarmoreus.jpg, A

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

of ''Conus marmoreus'' after it has been cleaned File:Conus_marmoreus_01.jpg, The shell of ''Conus marmoreus'' in various aspects File:Conus marmoreus 1.jpg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus marmoreus 2.jpg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus marmoreus 3.jpg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus marmoreus 4.jpg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus marmoreus 5.jpg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.MOLL.164761 - Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758 - Conidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, ''Conus marmoreus'' Linnaeus, 1758, museum specimens with species tags

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
* Röding, P.F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa.'' Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp. * Perry, G. 1811. ''Conchology, or the natural history of shells containing a new arrangement of the genera and species, illustrated by coloured engravings, executed from the natural specimens and including the latest discoveries''. London : W. Miller 4 pp., 62 pls. * Sowerby, G.B. (1st) 1839. ''Conus''. pls 153-158 in Sowerby, G.B. (2nd) (ed). The Conchological Illustrations or coloured figures of all the hitherto unfigured recent shells. London : G.B. Sowerby (2nd). * Bernardi, M. 1861. ''Description de deux espèces du genre Cone''. Journal de Conchyliologie 9: 168-171 * Sowerby, G.B. (2nd) 1870. ''Descriptions of forty-eight new species of shells.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1870: 249–259 * Crosse, H. 1872. ''Diagnoses molluscorum Novae Caledoniae incolarum''. Journal de Conchyliologie 20: 154-157 * Crosse, H. 1875. ''Note sur une espèces manuscrite de M. le Professeur G.P. Deshayes''. Journal de Conchyliologie 23: 223-225 * Crosse, H. 1878. ''Description d'espèces nouvelles de Mollusques''. Journal de Conchyliologie 26: 166-169 * Smith, E.A. 1897. ''Notes on some type-specimens in the British Museum.'' Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 2(5): 229-232 * Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar''. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III * 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. * Satyamurti, S.T. 1952. ''Mollusca of Krusadai Is. I. Amphineura and Gastropoda''. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, Natural History ns 1(no. 2, pt 6): 267 pp., 34 pls * Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods''. Pacific Science 11(3): 275-341, fig. 2, pl. 1 * Gillett, K. & McNeill, F. 1959. ''The Great Barrier Reef and Adjacent Isles: a comprehensive survey for visitor, naturalist and photographer''. Sydney : Coral Press 209 pp. * 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. * 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.'' September 4, 2009 Edition
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 : ''Conus marmoreus''

- Information on this species

by James Grout.

- More information on ''Conus marmoreus'' *
Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea

Holotype in MNHN, Paris
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Marmoreus marmoreus Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus