''Volutoconus'' is a small taxonomic

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of four rare

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

s, medium-sized

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 ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 ...

s in the family Volutidae.

Distribution

''Volutoconus'' species live in tropical and subtropical waters. All four species in the genus live in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the range of one species, ''Volutoconus bednalli'', extends to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. ''Volutoconus'' snails live in coarse sand and rubble from the shallow subtidal zone to over 200 m depth.

Shell description

The shells of ''Volutoconus'' species have a bluntly rounded

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 ...

with a small sharp projection called a calcarella. They are solid, glossy, cylindrical-shaped shells with an elongate aperture that has four distinct columellar plicae. ''Volutoconus coniformis'', ''V. grossi'' and ''V. hargreavesi'' are reddish-brown in color, and ''V. bednalli'' is yellow with reticulate blue-black bands. ''Volutoconus grossi'' form ''mcmichaeli'' and ''Volutoconus hargreavesi'' form ''daiseyae'' have distinct axial ribs.

Notes

''Volutoconus'' are uncommonly found alive. They are sometimes accidentally caught by fishermen as bycatch on prawn or scallop trawlers. These volutes are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and have a small foot compared to many other volutes. The foot, head, propodium, eyes and siphon of ''Volutoconus hargreavesi'' and ''Volutoconus grossi'' have a similar color pattern to that of the shell.

References

* ''Australian marine shells 2'', Wilson B., Odyssey Publishing, Kallaroo, Western Australia 1994, {{Taxonbar, from=Q7941124 Volutidae