''Conasprella tornata'', common name the grooved 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 ...

and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella tornata (G. B. Sowerby I, 1833). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=836787 on 2015-06-22 Like all species within the genus ''Conasprella'', these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Description

Normal length is between 15 and 40 mm. The body

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 ...

is narrowly elongated conical in shape. The spire is elevated and scalariform, conical in profile. The

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

is multispiral. Color pattern is variable but rather simple.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.

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Islas Cedros, Baja California to mid- Gulf of California, Mexico. South to Peru.

References

Petit, R. E. (2009). ''George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa.'' Zootaxa. 2189: 1–218

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conasprella Tornata

tornata Tornata ( Cremunés: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about east of Cremona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 522 and an area of .All de ...

Gastropods described in 1833 Taxa named by George Brettingham Sowerby I