Conus (Lautoconus)

Conus (Lautoconus)
Apertural view of shell of Conus hybridus (Kiener, 1845).
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Subgenus: Lautoconus
Monterosato, 1923
Type species
Conus mediterraneus
Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Synonyms
  • Africonus Petuch, 1975
  • Lautoconus Monterosato, 1923
  • Varioconus da Motta, 1991

Lautoconus is a subgenus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs 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), Lautoconus has become a subgenus of Conus as Conus (Lautoconus) Monterosato, 1923(type species: Conus mediterraneus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) represented as Conus Linnaeus, 1758

Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes Lautoconus 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 in shape with convex sides. The protoconch is paucispiral. The whorl tops are ornamented with cords that reach the middle spire whorls and often persist. The anal notch is shallow to moderate in depth. The periostracum is smooth and thin, and the operculum is of moderate size.
Radular tooth (not known for fossil species)
The anterior section of the radular tooth is equal to shorter than the posterior section, and blade is long and covers most of the anterior section. A basal spur is present, and the barb is short. The radular tooth has serrations in one or two rows.
Geographical distribution
The species in this genus occur in the occur in the West African and Mediterranean regions..
Feeding habits
These cone snails are vermivorous, meaning that the cones prey on 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 Lautoconus include:

References

  1. 1 2 Lautoconus Monterosato, 1923. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 07/26/11.
  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