''Conus victoriae'', common name the Queen Victoria 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 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 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 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 ...

and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Taxonomy

''Conus nodulosus'' has often been treated as a geographical variant or subspecies of ''C. victoriae''. They have a disjunct distribution, the latter occurring from Exmouth to the Western Australia / Northern Territory border, whereas ''nodulosus'' has a distribution restricted from Geraldton to Calbary and the Abrolhos. For conservation implications, the two are here listed as distinct.

Description

The size of the shell varies between . ''Conus victoriae'' is a mollusc-eating cone (molluscivore) possibly related to ''Conus textile'' . It differs from ''Conus textile'' in the reticulations. These are mostly smaller, arid light-colored, contrasting strongly with the bands of very dark chocolate longitudinal stripes. They are also more or less overlaid with violaceous clouds.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
/ref> A component of its venom, alpha conotoxin Vc1.1 (ACV1) has been shown to be a potent analgesic in pain tests in animals> and is a potential replacement for morphine for the treatment of neuropathic pain.>> The biology of this cone species has been extensively studied, in particular the embryonic development of its venom apparatus,> the expression of the venom gland proteome>> and the role of the venom bulb in delivery of venom components to the radulae.>

Distribution

This marine species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Australia (

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 ...

from Broome north to the mouth of the Victoria River,

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 ...

where it was first discovered by Reeve in 1843)

Gallery

File:Conus victoriae 3.jpg, ''Conus victoriae'' Reeve, L.A., 1843 File:Conus victoriae 4.jpg, ''Conus victoriae'' Reeve, L.A., 1843 File:Conus victoriae 5.jpg, ''Conus victoriae'' Reeve, L.A., 1843 File:Conus victoriae 6.jpg, ''Conus victoriae'' Reeve, L.A., 1843

References

* Reeve, L.A. 1843. ''Descriptions of new species of shells figured in the 'Conchologia Iconica'.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 169–197 * Reeve, L.A. 1843. ''Monograph of the genus Conus''. pls 1–39 in Reeve, L.A. (ed.). Conchologica Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 1. * Sowerby, G.B. 1866. ''Thesaurus Conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells.'' London : G.B. Sowerby Vol. 3 277–331 pls 266–290. * 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. * 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.
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 Shell and Conotoxins website

* ttp://grimwade.biochem.unimelb.edu.au/cone/Internet_Interview_with_Bruce_Livett.pdf ''Internet Interview'' with Bruce Livett
Nervous System – Cone Snail Toxin from Untamed Science

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Victoriae victoriae Gastropods of Australia Gastropods described in 1843