''Conus brunneus'', common name Wood's brown cone, is a species of
sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...
, a marine
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusk 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, groups onl ...
, the
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 co ...
and their allies.
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 the shell varies between 16 mm and 65 mm. The short
spire is conical and tuberculate. The color of the shell is chestnut-brown, lineated with chocolate, with sometimes longitudinal white maculations forming a broad central interrupted band, and a few additional maculations on other portions of the surface. The base of the shell is subgranularly striate.
G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
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Distribution
This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean off Southwest Baja California, Mexico to Ecuador; and off the Galápagos Islands.
References
* Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2013) ''Illustrated catalog of the living cone shells''. 517 pp. Wellington, Florida: MdM Publishing.
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
File:Conus brunneus 1.jpg, ''Conus brunneus'' Wood, W., 1828
File:Conus brunneus 2.jpg, ''Conus brunneus'' Wood, W., 1828
File:Conus brunneus 3.jpg, ''Conus brunneus'' Wood, W., 1828
File:Conus brunneus 4.jpg, ''Conus brunneus'' Wood, W., 1828
External links
The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Brunneus
brunneus
Gastropods described in 1828