''Conus chaldaeus'', common name the Chaldean 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. Conus chaldaeus 3

Description

The size of the shell varies between 19.7 mm and 59 mm. The color of the shell is white, sometimes rose-tinted, with three or four revolving bands composed of irregular longitudinal dark chocolate or nearly black markings. The black markings are more continuous, so as usually to cover the length of the shell except an irregular white central band. Sometimes those markings are impressed so that the intervening white spaces project granulously or tuberculately above the surface; occasionally also the entire surface becomes dark chocolate with the exception of the white band, and a white spot here and there. These markings also ornament the slightly coronated spire. The aperture is white with clouded bands corresponding with the exterior markings. The surface of the shell is more or less striate throughout, but the striae become more prominent towards the dark stained base.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
(described as Conus hebraeus vermiculatus)]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Red Sea, in the tropical Indo-Pacific and in the Eastern Pacific (

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama); off New Zealand and Australia ( New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

References

* 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. ''Tableau des espèces.'' Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 15: 29–40 * Dufo, M.H. 1840. ''Observations sur les Mollusques marins, terrestres et fluviatiles des iles Séchelles et des Amirantes''. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris 2 14, Zoologie: 45–80 (extrait), 166–221(suite) * Iredale, T. 1929. ''Queensland molluscan notes, No. 1.'' Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 261–297, pls 30–31 * Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods.'' Pacific Science 11(3): 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. * Rippingale, O.H. & McMichael, D.F. 1961. ''Queensland and Great Barrier Reef Shells.'' Brisbane : Jacaranda Press 210 pp. * Maes, V.O. 1967. ''The littoral marine mollusks of Cocos-Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean).'' Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 119: 93–217 * 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(4) 653 pp. * Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) ''Sea Shells of Southern Africa.'' Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp. * 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.
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

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus chaldaeus chaldaeus Gastropods described in 1798