Conus catus

Conus catus
Shell of Conus catus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Clade: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species: C. catus
Binomial name
Conus catus
Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Synonyms[1]
  • Conus (Pionoconus) catus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 accepted, alternate representation
  • Conus catus var. fuscoolivaceus Dautzenberg, 1937
  • Conus catus var. granulata Wils, 1971 (unavailable name)
  • Conus catus var. rubrapapillosa Dautzenberg, 1937
  • Conus collisus var. granulosus Barros e Cunha, 1933 (invalid: junior homonym of C. arenatus var. granulosa Lamarck, 1822)
  • Conus discrepans G.B. Sowerby II, 1833
  • Conus reflectus G. B. Sowerby III, 1877
  • Conus reflexus G. B. Sowerby III, 1887
  • Cucullus nubilis Röding, 1798
  • Pionoconus catus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)

Conus catus, common name the cat cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[1]

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 24 mm and 52 mm. The shell is bulbous, with a convex, striate spire. The body whorl is striate, the striae rounded, usually obsolete above, granular below, olive, chestnut-, chocolate- or pink-brown, variously marbled and flecked with white, often faintly white-banded below the middle. In the variety nigropunctatus, the shell is colored as above and encircled by series of chocolate-colored dots. [2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean off the Aldabra Atoll, Chagos, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania and KwaZuluNatal; in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Region; off Australia (New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia).

References

  1. 1 2 Conus catus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792.  Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 15 July 2011.
  2. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology, vol. VI, p. 63; 1884

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conus catus.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, August 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.