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''Conus mustelinus'', common name the ermine 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. 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 40 mm and 107 mm. The low spire is striate, flamed with chocolate and white. 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 yellowish, or orange-brown, encircled by rows of chestnut dots, usually stained chocolate at the base. There is a central white band, with chocolate hieroglyphic markings on either side, and a shoulder band, crossed by chocolate smaller longitudinal markings. The border markings of the bands are reduced to spots. The aperture has a chocolate color with a white band. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI p. 40; 1879


Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean from the Chagos Atoll to Western Australia; in the Pacific Ocean, from
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
to Philippines, Eastern Australia and
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
.


References

* Bruguière, M. 1792. ''Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par ordre de matières''. Histoire naturelle des vers. Paris : Panckoucke Vol. 1 i–xviii, 757 pp. * Schröter, J.S. 1803. ''Naue Conchylienarten und Abänderungen, Anmerkungen und Berichtigungen nach dem linnéischen System der XII.'' Ausgabe. Archiv für Zoologie und Zootomie 3(2): 33–78 * Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods.'' Pacific Science 11(3): 275–341, fig. 2, pl. 1 * Habe, T. 1964. ''Shells of the Western Pacific in color.'' Osaka : Hoikusha Vol. 2 233 pp., 66 pls. * Shikama, T. 1964. ''Description of a new species of Murex and Conus from the Arafura Sea''. Venus 23(1): 33–37, pl. 3 * Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. ''Tropical Pacific Marine Shells''. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls. * Shikama, T. 1979. ''Description of new and noteworthy Gastropoda from western Pacific Ocean (II)''. Science Reports of the Yokosuka City Museum 26: 1–6 * 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. (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 mustelinus 1.jpg, ''Conus mustelinus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792 File:Conus mustelinus 2.jpg, ''Conus mustelinus'' Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792


External links


The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
*
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus mustelinus mustelinus Gastropods described in 1792