''Conus tulipa'', common name the tulip cone, is a species of

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies. Like all species within the genus ''Conus'', these snails are

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

and

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

. They are capable of stinging humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully. A class of

conopeptide A conotoxin is one of a group of Neurotoxicity, neurotoxic peptides isolated from the venom of the marine cone snail, genus ''Conus''. Conotoxins, which are peptides consisting of 10 to 30 amino acid residues, typically have one or more disulfi ...

s named rho-TIA was discovered in ''Conus tulipa'' in 2001. This class of conopeptides targets (react with) alpha1-

adrenergic receptor The adrenergic receptors or adrenoceptors are a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of many catecholamines like norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and epinephrine (adrenaline) produced by the body, but also many medications like b ...

Description

The size of the shell varies between 45 mm and 95 mm. The shell is variegated with violet and white, clouded with chestnut, with numerous revolving rows of minute chestnut and white articulations. The interior of the

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is violaceous.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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Conantokin Conantokins are a small family of helical peptides that are derived from the venom of predatory marine snails of the genus ''Conus''. Conantokins act as potent and specific antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). They are the on ...

-T is a toxin derived from the venom of ''Conus tulipa''.

Distribution

The marine species occurs in the Indo-Western Pacific. *

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

* the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(Australia)

Feeding habits

''Conus tulipa'' preys on fishes. File:Conus tulipa 3.jpg, ''Conus tulipa'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus tulipa 4.jpg, ''Conus tulipa'' Linnaeus, C., 1758 File:Conus tulipa 5.jpg, ''Conus tulipa'' Linnaeus, C., 1758

References

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp
* Röding, P.F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa''. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp. * Swainson, W. 1840. ''A Treatise on Malacology or the Natural Classification of Shells and Shell-fish''. London : Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans 419 pp. * Reeve, L.A. 1843. ''Monograph of the genus Conus.'' pls 1–39 in Reeve, L.A. (ed.). Conchologica Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 1. * Adams, H. 1868. ''Descriptions of some new species of shells collected by Geoffrey Nevill, Esq. at Mauritius, the Isle of Bourbon, and the Seychelles.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1868: 288–292, pl. 28 * 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. * 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. * 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. * 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. *

External links

The ''Conus'' Biodiversity website

Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conus Tulipa

tulipa Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different coloured ...

Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus