''Conus thomae'', common name St. Thomas 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 noted for their potent stings, making the ''Conus thomae'' potentially dangerous to
humans.
Description
The size of the shell varies between 55 mm and 97 mm. The narrow shell is whitish, encircled by numerous hues of square spots and dashes of orange-brown, often forming two or three broad bands by their approximation.
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 marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean and off the Moluccas and the Philippines.
References
* Filmer R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758–1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp.
* Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) ''Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods''. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp.
*
External links
The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website
Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conus thomae
thomae
Gastropods described in 1791
Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin