''Conus monile'', common name the necklace 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 ...

s, 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s 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 an adult shell varies between 45 mm and 95 mm. The chestnut-flamed spire is nearly plane, with a raised apex. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is closely striate below, and generally chestnut-stained at the base. The color of the shell is white, with oblique flames, spots and short lines of chestnut, arranged in revolving series. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 34; 1879

Distribution

This species occurs in the Northeast Indian Ocean off India and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to Western Thailand

References

* Filmer R.M. (2001). ''A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 – 1998''. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp * Tucker J.K. (2009). ''Recent cone species database''. September 4, 2009 Edition * 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

Gallery

File:Conus monile 1.jpg, ''Conus monile'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792 File:Conus monile 2.jpg, ''Conus monile'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792 File:Conus monile 3.jpg, ''Conus monile'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792 File:Conus monile 4.jpg, ''Conus monile'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
*
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus monile

monile ''Anthene'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae, commonly called the ciliate blues or hairtails. The genus was erected by Edward Doubleday in 1847. Subgenera and species Listed alphabetically within subgenera: *Subgenus ''Anthene ...

Gastropods described in 1792