''Conus pertusus'', common name the pertusus cone or the lovely 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.
;Subspecies:
* ''Conus pertusus elodieallaryae''
(T. Cossignani, 2013)
* ''Conus pertusus pertusus''
Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 20 mm and 69 mm. The
spire is convex, rather obtuse. 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 encircled by distant punctate striae. The color of the shell is rosy tinged with yellow and interruptedly banded with white blotches below the shoulder and in the middle of the body-whorl.
[ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 54; 1884]
Distribution
This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Chagos, the Mascarene Basin and Mauritius; in the entire Indo-Pacific; off Australia (
Northern Territory,
Queensland and
Western Australia).
References
* Bruguière, M. 1792. ''Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par ordre de matières.'' Histoire naturelle des vers. Paris : Panckoucke Vol. 1 i–xviii, 757 pp.
* Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1810. ''Suite des espèces du genre Cône''. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 15: 263–286, 422–442
* Dillwyn, L.W. 1817. ''A Descriptive Catalogue of Recent Shells, arranged according to the Linnaean method; with particular attention to the synonymy''. London : John and Arthur Arch 2 volumes 1092 + 29 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
Gallery
File:Conus pertusus 1.jpg, ''Conus pertusus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
File:Conus pertusus 2.jpg, ''Conus pertusus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
File:Conus pertusus 3.jpg, ''Conus pertusus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
File:Conus pertusus 4.jpg, ''Conus pertusus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
External links
The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website*
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus pertusus
pertusus
Gastropods described in 1792