''Conuber conicum'', the conical moon snail, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which 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 ...

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, in the family

Naticidae Naticidae, common name moon snails or necklace shells, is a family (biology), family of medium to large-sized predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The shells of the species in this family a ...

, the moon snails. It was first described in 1822 as ''Natica conica'' by

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 10 mm, its diameter 6 mm. (Described as ''Natica tasmanica'') The shell has a somewhat covered umbilicus. It is depressedly orbicular, thick, with a short but slightly exsert spire. The whorls are convex, rounded, smooth, or obliquely thickly and most minutely striate. The aperture is semilunar and horizontal. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is somewhat thin, with a prominent callosity, which is spirally sulcate. The umbilicus is angularly excavate; with a kind of callosity within the suture at the aperture. The shell is pale fulvous or whitish, banded with brownish or orange lines. The base of the shell is white, chestnut or fulvous within.Tenison Woods, J. E. (1876). Descriptions of new Tasmanian shells. Papers and Proceedings and Report of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 1875: 134–162.
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Distribution

This species is endemic to Australia (

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Victoria,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

). It is a carnivorous marine snail found on intertidal sand flats, all around Australia. It feeds on small bivalves.

References

* Hedley, C. 1916. A preliminary index of the Mollusca of Western Australia. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 1: 152-226 * Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109 * Murray, F.V. 1963. Notes on the spawn and early life history of two species of Conuber Finlay & Marwick, 1937 (Naticidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australasia 1(6): 49-58 * Macpherson, J.H. 1966. Port Phillip Survey 1957–1963. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 27: 201–288 * Coleman, N. 1975. What Shell is That? Sydney : Lansdowne Press 298 pp. * Wells, F.E. & Bryce, C.W. 1986. Seashells of Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 207 pp. * Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.

External links

''Conuber conicum'' images & occurrence data
from GBIF
''Conuber conicum'' images at iNaturalist

Adams, A. & Reeve, L. A. (1848-1850). Mollusca. In A. Adams (ed.), The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., F.R.A.S., F.G.S., during the years 1843-1846. Reeve & Benham, London, x + 87 pp., 24 pls

Reeve, L. A. (1855). Monograph of the genus Natica. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 9, pls 1-30, and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16085066

Torigoe K. & Inaba A. (2011). Revision on the classification of Recent Naticidae. Bulletin of the Nishinomiya Shell Museum. 7: 133 + 15 pp., 4 pls

Huelsken T., Tapken D., Dahlmann T., Wägele H., Riginos C. & Hollmann M. (2012) Systematics and phylogenetic species delimitation within Polinices s.l. (Caenogastropoda: Naticidae) based on molecular data and shell morphology. Organisms, Diversity & Evolution 12: 349-375

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13495744 Naticidae Gastropods described in 1822 Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Gastropods of Australia