''Jaspidiconus'' is a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...

of sea snails,

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod

mollusk 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 es ...

s in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

''Conasprella'',

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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, group ...

, 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 ...

and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Jaspidiconus Petuch, 2003. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=456435 on 2015-03-18 In the new classification of the family Conidae by Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015), ''Jaspidiconus'' has become a subgenus of ''Conasprella'': ''Conasprella (Ximeniconus)'' Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 represented as ''

Conasprella ''Conasprella'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/ap ...

'' Thiele, 1929 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
/ref>

Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes ''Jaspidiconus'' from ''Conus'' in the following ways:Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp. * Genus ''Conus'' ''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'' Linnaeus, 1758 :: Shell characters (living and fossil species) :::The basic shell shape is conical to elongated conical, has a deep anal notch on the shoulder, a smooth

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods a ...

and a small operculum. The shoulder of the shell is usually nodulose and the

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also calle ...

is usually multispiral. Markings often include the presence of tents except for black or white color variants, with the absence of spiral lines of minute tents and textile bars. ::Radular tooth (not known for fossil species) :::The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

has an elongated anterior section with serrations and a large exposed terminating cusp, a non-obvious waist, blade is either small or absent and has a short barb, and lacks a basal spur. ::Geographical distribution :::These species are found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region. ::Feeding habits :::These species eat other gastropods including

cones 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 ...

. * Subgenus ''Jaspidiconus'' Petuch, 2003 ::Shell characters (living and fossil species) :::The shell is turbinate in shape. The

is paucispiral with 1.5 whorls. The anal notch is deep, and the anterior notch is absent. The early whorls are not nodulose but may be ornamented by an undulating carina. Later whorls may be ornamented with nodules. Cords are absent on the whorls. The

is smooth, and the operculum is small. ::Radular tooth (not known for fossil species) :::The anterior sections of the radular tooth is shorter than the posterior section, and the blade is short. A posterior fold is present, and the posterior blade is absent. A basal spur is present, and the barb is short. A shaft fold is present and is blunt at its anterior end. ::Geographical distribution :::These species are found in the

West Atlantic West Atlantic is a holding company for two European cargo airlines, West Air Sweden and West Atlantic UK, with its head office in Malmö, Sweden. West Atlantic employ some 650 staff and operate a fleet of 22 aircraft. The airline specializes i ...

region. ::Feeding habits :::These species are vermivorous, meaning that they prey on

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ...

worms.

Species

This list of species is based on the information in the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific speciali ...

(

WoRMS Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city ** Worms (electoral district) * Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertai ...

) list. Species within the subgenus ''Jaspidiconus'' include: * ''Jaspidiconus acutimarginatus'' (G. B. Sowerby II, 1866): synonym of J''aspidiconus jaspideus'' f. ''acutimarginatus'' (G. B. Sowerby II, 1866): synonym of '' Conus jaspideus'' Gmelin, 1791 * ''Jaspidiconus alexandremonteiroi'' Cossignani, 2014: synonym of ''

Conasprella alexandremonteiroi ''Conasprella alexandremonteiroi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella alexandremonteiroi (Cossignani, 2014). Accessed through: Worl ...

'' (Cossignani, 2014) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus allamandi'' Petuch, 2013: synonym of ''

Conasprella allamandi ''Conasprella allamandi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessari ...

'' (Petuch, 2013) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus anaglypticus'' (Crosse, 1865): synonym of '' Conus anaglypticus'' Crosse, 1865 * ''Jaspidiconus arawak'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of ''

Conus arawak ''Conasprella arawak'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, ...

'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus berschaueri'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of ''

Conus berschaueri ''Conasprella berschaueri'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella berschaueri (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Acces ...

'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus branhamae'' (Clench, 1953): synonym of '' Conus branhamae'' Clench, 1953 * ''Jaspidiconus damasoi'' (Cossignani, 2007): synonym of ''

Conus damasoi ''Conasprella damasoi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella damasoi (Cossignani, 2007). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Re ...

'' Cossignani, 2007 * ''Jaspidiconus damasomonteiroi'' Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of '' Conus damasomonteiroi'' (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus ericmonnieri'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of '' Conus ericmonnieri'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus exumaensis'' Petuch, 2013: synonym of '' Conus jaspideus'' Gmelin, 1791 * ''Jaspidiconus fluviamaris'' Petuch & Sargent, 2011: synonym of '' Conus fluviamaris'' (Petuch & Sargent, 2011) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus henckesi'' (Coltro, 2004): synonym of '' Conus henckesi'' Coltro, 2004 * ''Jaspidiconus herndli'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of '' Conus herndli'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus iansa'' (Petuch, 1979): synonym of ''

Conasprella iansa ''Conasprella iansa'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies. Like all species within the genus ''Conasprella'', these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable o ...

'' Petuch, 1979 * ''Jaspidiconus jaspideus'' (Gmelin, 1791): synonym of '' Conus jaspideus'' Gmelin, 1791 * ''Jaspidiconus mackintoshi'' Petuch, 2013: synonym of '' Conus mindanus'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 * ''Jaspidiconus marinae'' Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of '' Conus marinae'' (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus mindanus'' (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792): synonym of '' Conus mindanus'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 * ''Jaspidiconus ogum'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of '' Conus ogum'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus oleiniki'' Petuch, 2013: synonym of '' Conus jaspideus'' Gmelin, 1791 * ''Jaspidiconus pealii'' (Green, 1840): synonym of ''Jaspidiconus jaspideus pealii'' (Green, 1830) represented as '' Conus jaspideus pealii'' Green, 1830 * ''Jaspidiconus pfluegeri'' Petuch, 2003: synonym of ''Jaspidiconus jaspideus pfluegeri'' Petuch, 2003 represented as '' Conus jaspideus pfluegeri'' Petuch, 2003 * ''Jaspidiconus pomponeti'' Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of ''

Conus pomponeti ''Conasprella pomponeti'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella pomponeti (Petuch & Myers, 2014). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed throu ...

'' (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus poremskii'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of ''

Conus poremskii ''Conasprella poremskii'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella poremskii (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed ...

'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus pusio'' (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792): synonym of ''

Conus pusio ''Conus pusio'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies. Like all species within the genus ''Conus'', these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stingi ...

'' Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 * ''Jaspidiconus rachelae'' (Petuch, 1988): synonym of ''

Conus rachelae ''Conasprella rachelae'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella rachelae (Petuch, 1988). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

'' Petuch, 1988 * ''Jaspidiconus roatanensis'' Petuch & Sargent, 2011: synonym of ''

Conus roatanensis ''Conasprella roatanensis'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella roatanensis (Petuch & Sargent, 2011). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed t ...

'' (Petuch & Sargent, 2011) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus sargenti'' Petuch, 2013: synonym of '' Conus sargenti'' (Petuch, 2013) (alternate representation) * ''Jaspidiconus simonei'' Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of ''

Conus simonei ''Conasprella simonei'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessaril ...

'' (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination) * ''Jaspidiconus stearnsii'' (Conrad, 1869): synonym of '' Conus stearnsii'' Conrad, 1869 * ''Jaspidiconus vanhyningi'' (Rehder, 1944): synonym of '' Conus vanhyningi'' Rehder, 1944 (alternate representation)

Significance of "alternative representation"

Prior to 2009, all

cone 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 ...

species were placed within the family

and were placed in one genus, ''

Conus ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species ...

''. In 2009 however, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the over 600 recognized

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

that were in the family. Their classification proposed 3 distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of

, including the family

Conilithidae Conilithidae is a proposed taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, specifically cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea, the cone snails and their allies.Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic clas ...

. This classification was based upon

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

r differences,

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

cladistics Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived ch ...

, with comparisons to molecular (DNA) studies. Published accounts of genera within the

(or

) that include the genus ''Jaspidiconus'' include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011).Petuch E.J. & Sargent D.M. (2011) New species of Conidae and Conilithidae (Gastropoda) from the tropical Americas and Philippines. With notes on some poorly-known Floridian species. Visaya 3(3): 37-58. ugust 2011/ref> Testing in order to try to understand the

molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

of the

was initially begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn, and is continuing, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing. However, in 2011, some experts still prefer to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in ''

'' within the single family

: for example, according to the current November 2011 version of the

, all species within the family Conidae are in the genus ''

''. The binomial names of species in the 82 cone snail genera listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are recognized by the

as "alternative representations." Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continues, and additional

studies are being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.Petuch & Drolshage (2011) ''Compendium of Florida Fossil Shells, Volume 1'' MDM Publications, Wellington, FL., 432 pp. All this has been superseded in 2015 by the new classification of the Conidae

References

External links

To World Register of Marine Species

Gastropods.com: ''Conidae'' setting forth the genera recognized therein.

Gastropods.com: ''Conilithidae'' setting forth the genera recognized therein.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6164113 Conidae Gastropod subgenera

Distinguishing characteristics

Species

Significance of "alternative representation"

References

Further reading

External links