''Conus miles'', common name the soldier 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 136 mm. The
spire is obsoletely tuberculate or smooth and rather depressed. The thick shell has nodular shoulders of
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
Whorls in nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...
s. 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 bordered by a broad shoulder and is spirally ridged at the base. The color of the thick shell is yellowish white or pale orange, with close narrow, wavy, thread-like longitudinal chestnut striations, interrupted by a chocolate, fairly narrow, revolving band above the middle. The base is stained chocolate, bordered upwards by progressively lighter bands. The
aperture is banded, chocolate and white.
[ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 40; 1879]
Distribution
This cone snail is found in
Aldabra
Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...
,
Chagos,
Madagascar, Mascarene Basin,
Mauritius,
Mozambique, the
Red Sea and
Tanzania.
and in the entire Indo-Pacific; off Australia (
Northern Territory,
Queensland,
Western Australia).
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
* Dufo, M.H. 1840. ''Observations sur les Mollusques marins, terrestres et fluviatiles des iles Séchelles et des Amirantes''. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris 2 14, Zoologie: 45–80
* Oostingh, C.H. 1925. ''Report on a collection of recent shells from Obi and Halmahera, Molluccas.'' Mededeelingen van de Landbouwhoogeschool te Wageningen 29(1): 1–362
* Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods.'' Pacific Science 11(3): 275–341, fig. 2, pl. 1
* 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.
* 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.
* Vine, P. (1986). ''Red Sea Invertebrates''. Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp
* Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). ''Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice''
* 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
Gallery
File:Conus miles 1.jpg, ''Conus miles'' Linnaeus, C., 1758
File:Conus miles 2.jpg, ''Conus miles'' Linnaeus, C., 1758
File:Conus miles 3.jpg, ''Conus miles'' Linnaeus, C., 1758
File:Conus miles 4.jpg, ''Conus miles'' Linnaeus, C., 1758
External links
The ''Conus'' Biodiversity websiteCone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Miles
miles
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
Gastropods described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus