Conus (Floraconus)

Conus (Floraconus)
Apertural view of a shell of Conus anemone f. peronianus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Subgenus: Floraconus
Iredale, 1930
Type species
Conus anemone
Lamarck, 1810
Synonyms
  • Dendroconus (Ketyconus) da Motta, 1991
  • Floraconus Iredale, 1930
  • Ketyconus da Motta, 1991

Floraconus is a subgenus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the genus Conus, family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.

In the latest classification of the family Conidae by Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015), Floraconus has become a subgenus of Conus as Conus (Floraconus) represented as Conus Linnaeus, 1758

Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes Floraconus from Conus in the following ways:

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 and a small operculum. The shoulder of the shell is usually nodulose and the protoconch 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 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 region.
Feeding habits
These species eat other gastropods including cones.
Shell characters (living and fossil species)
The shell is turgid to conical in shape. The protoconch is paucispiral, and the spire whorl tops have cords. Nodules are either absent or die out in early whorls. The dentiform plait may be small or absent. The anal notch is shallow, and the anterior notch is slight or absent. The periostracum may be smooth or tufted, and the operculum is moderate to small.
Radular tooth (not known for fossil species)
The anterior section of the radular tooth may be equal to or slightly longer than the posterior section. The blade is short to moderate extending about one-third to one-half the length of the anterior section. The basal spur is present, and the barb is short. The radular tooth has a single row of serrations.
Geographical distribution
The species in this genus are endemic to Australia.
Feeding habits
These cone snails are vermivorous (meaning that the cones prey on marine worms) feeding upon polychaete worms.

Species list

This list of species is based on the information in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) list. Species within the genus Floraconus include:

References

  1. 1 2 Floraconus Iredale, 1930. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 07/13/11.
  2. ↑ 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
  3. 1 2 3 Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.

Further reading