Conus (Austroconus)


Austroconus is a taxon of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae. Although formerly described as a distinct subgenus, it is currently considered as an alternative representation of the cone snail genus, Conus.

Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes Austroconus from Conus in the following ways:
  • Genus Conus sensu stricto Linnaeus, 1758
  • Genus Austroconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009

Species

Prior to 2009, all species within the family Conidae were placed in one genus, Conus. In 2009 however, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the over 600 recognized species that were in the family. Their classification proposed 3 distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of cone snails. This classification was based upon shell morphology, radular differences, anatomy, physiology, cladistics, with comparisons to molecular studies. Published accounts of genera within the Conidae that include the genus Austroconus include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio, and Bouchet et al..
Testing in order to try to understand the molecular phylogeny of the Conidae was initially begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn, and is continuing, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing.
Many authorities continue to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in Conus within the single family Conidae including the current version of the World Register of Marine Species. The binomial names of species in the 82 cone snail genera listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are recognized by the World Register of Marine Species as "alternative representations." Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continues, and additional molecular phylogeny studies are being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.
In 2015, in the Journal of Molluscan Studies, Puillandre, Duda, Meyer, Olivera & Bouchet presented a new classification for the old genus Conus. Using 329 species, the authors carried out molecular phylogenetic analyses. The results suggested that the authors should place all cone snails in a single family, Conidae, containing four genera: Conus, Conasprella, Profundiconus and Californiconus. The authors group 85% of all known cone snail species under Conus, They recognize 57 subgenera within Conus, and 11 subgenera within the genus Conasprella.
The three species formerly classified in the genus Africonus are now considered as "alternate representations" of species in the genus Conus:Austroconus clarus is represented as Conus clarus E. A. Smith, 1881Austroconus cyanostoma is represented as Conus cyanostoma A. Adams, 1855Austroconus sydneyensis is represented as Conus sydneyensis G. B. Sowerby III, 1887