Conus chaldaeus

Conus chaldaeus, common name the Chaldean cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.^[2]

Conus chaldaeus
Five views of a shell of Conus chaldaeus (Röding, P.F., 1798)
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. chaldaeus
Binomial name
Conus chaldaeus (Röding, 1798)
Synonyms[2]
Conus (Virroconus) chaldaeus (Röding, 1798) accepted, alternate representation Conus brunneus var. pemphigus Dall, 1910 Conus vermiculatus Lamarck, 1810 Cucullus chaldaeus Röding, 1798 Virroconus chaldaeus (Röding, 1798)

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of stinging humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Conus chaldaeus (Röding, P.F., 1798)

Description

The size of the shell varies between 19.7 mm and 59 mm. The color of the shell is white, sometimes rose-tinted, with three or four revolving bands composed of irregular longitudinal dark chocolate or nearly black markings. The black markings are more continuous, so as usually to cover the length of the shell except an irregular white central band. Sometimes those markings are impressed so that the intervening white spaces project granularly or tuberculately above the surface; occasionally also the entire surface becomes dark chocolate with the exception of the white band, and a white spot here and there. These markings also ornament the slightly coronated spire. The aperture is white with clouded bands corresponding with the exterior markings. The surface of the shell is more or less striate throughout, but the striae become more prominent towards the dark stained base.^[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Red Sea, in the tropical Indo-Pacific and in the Eastern Pacific (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama); off New Zealand and Australia (New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).