''Conasprella elokismenos'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of sea snail, a marine gastropod

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 es ...

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, group ...

, commonly known as

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 ...

.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella elokismenos (Kilburn, 1975). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=835369 on 2015-03-10 Like all species within the genus ''

Conasprella ''Conasprella'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/ap ...

'', 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 t ...

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 ...

. These snails are known for their cone shaped shells and their venomous sting used to capture prey.

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 45 mm and 68 mm. They have a sleek, elongated, and conical shape, like other members of the ''Conasprella'' genus. The shell is smooth and glossy, featuring intricate patterns and banding, which can vary in colour. Many cone snails have shades of white, cream, brown, or orange with darker markings which gives them a striking appearance. These snails have a tube-like struncture that they use to detect prey, and like other cone snails, they have a venomous harpoon-like radula for hunting small marine creatures.

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Indo-Pacific off

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and

KwaZuluNatal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language ...

, South Africa; also in the

Bismarck Sea The Bismarck Sea (, ) lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean within the nation of Papua New Guinea. It is located northeast of the island of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Archipelago. It has coastlines in districts of the Islands Region, ...

off Papua New Guinea. They are found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and subtropical marine environments. They tend to inhabit sandy or rocky areas, at depths ranging from shallow waters to deeper ocean zones.

References

* Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J., 1995. ''Manual of the living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific region''. Hemmen: 517 pp * Röckel, D., Richard, G. & Moolenbeek, R., 1995. ''Deep-water Cones (Gastropoda: Conidae) from the New Caledonia region.'' Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 167: 557–594 * 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., Meyer C.P., Bouchet P. & Olivera B.M. (2011) ''Genetic divergence and geographic variation in the deep-water Conus orbignyi complex (Mollusca: Conoidea)''. Zoologica Scripta 40(4): 350–363.
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
*
Holotype in the MNHN, Paris
elokismenos Gastropods described in 1975 {{conus-stub