Conus textile


Conus textile, the textile cone or the cloth of gold cone is a venomous species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. Textile cone snails live mostly in the Indian Ocean, along the eastern coast of Africa and around Australia.
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. Based on a report in 2004, about 30 human deaths have been attributed to cone snails.

List of synonyms

Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758 · accepted, alternate representationConus cholmondeleyi Melvill, 1900Conus communis Swainson, 1840Cylinder concatenatus Kiener, 1845Conus corbula G. B. Sowerby II, 1858Conus dilectus Gould, 1850Conus euetrios G. B. Sowerby III, 1882Conus eumitus Tomlin, 1926Conus panniculus Lamarck, 1810Conus reteaureum Perry, 1811Conus sirventi Fenaux, 1943Conus suzannae van Rossum, 1990Conus textile dahlakensis da Motta, 1982Conus textile var. euetrios G. B. Sowerby IIIConus textile var. loman Dautzenberg, 1937Conus textile var. ponderosa Dautzenberg, 1932 Conus textilinus ''Kiener, 1847 Conus tigrinus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858Conus undulatus , 1786Conus verriculum Reeve, 1843Cucullus auratus Röding, 1798Cucullus auriger Röding, 1798Cucullus gloriamaris Röding, 1798Cylinder gloriamaris Perry, 1810Cylindrus panniculus Lamarck, 1810Cylindrus scriptus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858Cylindrus textile var. ponderosa Dautzenberg, 1932Cylindrus tigrinus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858Cylindrus verriculum Reeve, 1843Cylindrus aurelius Röding, 1798Cylindrus auriger Röding, 1798Cylindrus gloriamaris Röding, 1798Cylindrus textilis osullivani Iredale, 1931Cylindrus textilisCylinder textile Darioconus textilisDarioconus textilis osullivani'' Iredale, 1931

Subspecies

Conus textile neovicarius da Motta, 1982Conus textile vaulberti Lorenz, 2012 Conus textile dahlakensis da Motta, 1982 : synonym of Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758Conus textile var. abbreviata Dautzenberg, 1937: synonym of Conus ammiralis Linnaeus, 1758Conus textile var. euetrios G. B. Sowerby III : synonym of Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758Conus textile var. loman Dautzenberg, 1937 : synonym of Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758Conus textile var. ponderosa Dautzenberg, 1932 : synonym of Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758Conus textile var. sulcata G. B. Sowerby I, 1834 : synonym of Conus retifer Menke, 1829

Shell description

Typical length of adults is about 9 cm to 10 cm. The maximum shell length for this species is 15 cm. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, with undulating longitudinal lines of brown, interrupted by triangular white spaces. These last are irregularly disposed, but crowded at the shoulder, base and middle so as to form bands. The spire is similarly marked. The aperture is white.

Distribution

C. textile lives in the waters of the Red Sea, the tropical Indo-Pacific, off Australia, New Zealand, the Indian Ocean from eastern Africa to Hawaii, and French Polynesia.
In Australia, C. textile is more commonly found in northern Queensland, but sightings are increasingly found further south into New South Wales due to warmer ocean temperatures associated with climate change.

Ecology

Habitat

C. textile may be found in estuaries, on rocky shores and in rockpools. During the day they are usually buried in sand, and emerge to feed at night.

Life cycle

The female lays several hundred eggs at a time, which hatch after about 16 or 17 days. After hatching, the larvae float around in the current for approximately 16 days. Afterward, they settle at the bottom of the ocean. By this point their length is about 1.5 mm.

Feeding habits

C. textile is a carnivorous species, and uses a radula to inject a conotoxin to kill its prey. Its venom contains the neurotoxin RPRFamide. C. textile eats snails. The proboscis, the tip of which holds the harpoon-like radular tooth, is capable of being extended to any part of its own shell. The living animal is a risk to any person handling it who has not taken proper care to protect exposed skin. Several human deaths have been attributed to this species.

Literature

  • Bruguière, M. 1792. Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par ordre de matières. Histoire naturelle des vers. Paris : Panckoucke Vol. 1 i-xviii, 757 pp.
  • Röding, P.F. 1798. Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp.
  • Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1810. Suite des espèces du genre Cône. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 15: 263-286, 422-442
  • Perry, G. 1811. Arcana, or The museum of natural history : containing the most recent discovered objects: embellished with coloured plates, and corresponding descriptions: with extracts relating to animals, and remarks of celebrated travellers; combining a general survey of nature. London : James Stratford pl. XLIX-LXXXIV.
  • Swainson, W. 1840. A Treatise on Malacology or the Natural Classification of Shells and Shell-fish. London : Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans 419 pp.
  • Reeve, L.A. 1843. Monograph of the genus Conus. pls 1-39 in Reeve, L.A.. Conchologica Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 1.
  • Kiener, L.C. 1845. Spécies général et Iconographie des coquilles vivantes, comprenant la collection du Muséum d'histoire Naturelle de Paris, la collection de Lamarck, celle du Prince Massena et les découvertes récentes des voyageurs. Paris : Rousseau et Baillière Vol. 2.
  • Gould, A.A. 1850. Shells collected by the United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 3: 169-172
  • Sowerby, G.B. 1857-1858. Monograph of the genus Conus. 1-56, pls 1-24 in Thesaurus conchyliorum or monographs of genera of shells. London : Sowerby Vol. 3.
  • Sowerby, G.B. 1882. Descriptions of new species of shells in the collection of Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1882: 117-121
  • Smith, E.A. 1891. On a collection of marine shells from Aden, with some remarks upon the relationship of the Molluscan Fauna of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1891: 390-436
  • Melvill, J.C. 1900. A revision of textile cones with description of C. cholmondeleyi n. sp. Journal of Conchology 9: 303-311
  • Smith, E.A. 1903. Marine Mollusca. pp. 589–630, pls 35-36 in Gardiner, J.S.. The Fauna and Geography of the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes. Being the account of work carried on and of the collections made by an expedition during the years 1899 and 1900. Cambridge : University Press Vol
  • Dautzenberg, P. 1932. Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar. Journal de Conchyliologie 76: 5-119, pl.
  • Dautzenberg, P. 1937. Gastéropodes marins. 3-Famille Conidae'; Résultats Scientifiques du Voyage aux Indes Orientales Néerlandaises de LL. AA. RR. Le Prince et la Princesse Lé Belgique. Mémoires du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 2: 284 pp, 3 pls
  • Fenaux 1943. Complément a l'étude de la faune malcologique de Paumotou. Bulletin de l'Institut Océanographique Monaco 835: 3
  • Demond, J. 1957. Micronesian reef associated gastropods. Pacific Science 11: 275-341, fig. 2, pl. 1
  • Gillett, K. & McNeill, F. 1959. The Great Barrier Reef and Adjacent Isles: a comprehensive survey for visitor, naturalist and photographer. Sydney : Coral Press 209 pp.
  • Wilson, B.R. & Gillett, K. 1971. Australian Shells: illustrating and describing 600 species of marine gastropods found in Australian waters. Sydney : Reed Books 168 pp.
  • Hinton, A. 1972. Shells of New Guinea and the Central Indo-Pacific. Milton : Jacaranda Press xviii 94 pp.
  • Salvat, B. & Rives, C. 1975. Coquillages de Polynésie. Tahiti : Papéete Les editions du pacifique, pp. 1–391.
  • Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. Tropical Pacific Marine Shells. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls.
  • Kay, E.A. 1979. Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and shore fauna of Hawaii. Section 4 : Mollusca. Honolulu, Hawaii : Bishop Museum Press Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication Vol. 64 653 pp.
  • Motta, A.J. da 1983. Two new species of the genus Conus. Publicaçoes Ocasionais da Sociedade Portuguesa de Malacologia 2: 1-9
  • Lauer, J. 1987. Tent marked cones; 4e partie. Rossiniana 36: 11-22
  • Drivas, J. & M. Jay. Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice
  • Rossum, H.M. van 1990. A new cone from the coasts of Kenya . La Conchiglia 22: 29-31
  • Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
  • Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp.
  • Filmer R.M.. A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 - 1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp.
  • Branch, G.M. et al.. Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg
  • Spencer, H.; Marshall. B.. All Mollusca except Opisthobranchia. In: Gordon, D. . New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp
  • Tucker J.K.. Recent cone species database. September 4, 2009 Edition
  • Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp
  • Lorenz, F., 2012. A new subspecies of Conidae from Mauritius. Schriften zur Malakozoologie 27: 21-24