Like other species in the superfamily Conoidea these snails are predatory and venomous, able to inject neurotoxins into their prey with their radula.
This genus was previously included in the family Turridae (subfamily Conorbinae) and later in the family Conidae. In 2009 Tucker & Tenorio included it in the family Conorbidae.
Species
The known living species within the genus Benthofascis are:
↑Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp., at pp. 134–135.)
↑Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011) A new operational classification of the Conoidea. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273–308.[link removed]
↑Tucker, J. K.; Tenorio, M. J.; Stahlschmidt, P. (2011), "The genus Benthofascis (Gastropoda: Conoidea): A revision with descriptions of new species", Zootaxa, 2796: 1, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2796.1.1
↑Powell, A.W.B. (1966) The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae an evaluation of the valid taxa, both Recent and fossil,
with lists of characteristic species. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum, 5, 1–184, 23 pls.
↑Taylor, J.D., Kantor, Yu.I. & Sysoev, A.V. (1993) Foregut anatomy, feeding mechanisms, relationships and classification of the Conoidea (= Toxoglossa) (Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Natural History Museum of London, Zoology, 59, 125–170
↑Tucker, J.K. & Tenorio, M.J. (2009) Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, with Keys to the Genera of Cone Shells. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, Germany, 295 pp
Further reading
Sysoev, A. & Bouchet, P. 2001. New and uncommon turriform gastropods (Gastropoda: Conoidea) from the South-West Pacific. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 185: 271–320
External links
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