''Conus guanche'' 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 Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

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

Description

The size of the shell varies between 22 mm and 55 mm. The shell is small with a moderately raised spire. Sutural ramps are adorned with two light spiral lines placed between the middle of each spire and the suture; normally, the spires do not exhibit the carena, however, in some specimens, spires, generally those nearest the apex, are deformed in width, so as to have a rounded outline. The suture is well marked and slightly wavy erratically. The shoulder is rounded or slightly subangolated. The last whorl is conical, slightly convex, with clear lines of growth, some of which are highlighted by a brown color, with darker shade respect the bottom. At the base there are spiral lines enough spaced one from the other, which are not highlighted by any type of coloring. The background of these shells is brown in color. On the spires are present darker longitudinal bands of brown color, among which are lighter bands, that in certain specimens tend to become white. On the shoulder there are a few small spots of brown color. Last whorl is of brown color, but, as already described above, some growth lines are highlighted by longitudinal bands brown in color, characterized by a darker central line and by a slightly wider and slightly lighter band. On last whorl there are two or three spiral bands in which there are lighter patches, white or almost white, and brown spiral lines formed by dots placed at regular distance.

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. In 1990, at Cala Madonna in Lampedusa, a few specimens of unidentified Conus were found, later recognized as ''Conus guanche nitens''.

Gallery

File:Conus guanche 2.jpg, ''Conus guanche'' Lauer, J., 1993 File:ConusGuanche_298_3ab.jpg, ''Conus guanche nitens'' Lauer, J., 1993

References

* Lauer, J. 1993. ''Description of a new species and a new subspecies of Conus (Mollusca: Prosobranchia: Conidae) from the Canary Islands.'' Apex 8(1/2):37-50, 14 figs. page(s): 37-50
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

Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea
*
Holotype in MNHN, Paris

guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest ...

Gastropods described in 1993 Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Mediterranean Sea Molluscs of the Canary Islands {{conus-stub