Conus marmoreus

Conus marmoreus, common name the marbled cone, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. It is the type species for the genus Conus, which is the type genus of the family. This is a species which is believed to feed mostly on marine mollusks including other cone snails.^[4][3] This snail is venomous, like all cone snails.

Conus marmoreus
A live Conus marmoreus feeding on Monetaria caputserpentis.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. marmoreus
Binomial name
Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758[2]
Synonyms[3]
List Conus (Conus) marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758 · accepted, alternate representation Conus crosseanus Bernardi, 1861 Conus crosseanus var. lineata Crosse, 1878 (invalid: junior homonym of Conus lineatus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) Conus maculatus Perry, 1811 Conus marmoreus var. granulatus G.B. Sowerby I, 1839 (invalid: junior homonym of Conus granulatus Linnaeus, 1758) Conus pseudomarmoreus Crosse, 1875 Conus (Conus) proarchithalassus Röding, P.F., 1798 Conus suffusus Sowerby II, 1870 Conus suffusus var. noumeensis Crosse, 1872 Cucullus proarchithalassus Röding, 1798

The subspecies: Conus marmoreus bandanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 is a synonym of Conus bandanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792^[3]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Chagos and Madagascar, in the Bay of Bengal off India; in the western part of the Pacific Ocean to Fiji and the Marshall Islands; off Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

Shell description

The size of an adult shell can vary between 30–150 millimetres (1.2–5.9 in). The flattish spire is nodular. The outer lip flares towards posterior. In this species, the distinctive, reticulated colour pattern can range from black with white dots, to orange with white reticulations, so arranged as to expose the white in rounded triangular large spots. The aperture is white or light pink.^[5][3]

In art

In 1650 Rembrandt portrayed this cone in an etching as "De schelp" ("The shell").

Gallery

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  "De schelp" ("The shell"), etching by Rembrandt
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  The shell of Conus marmoreus from Index Testarum Conchyliorum (1742) by Niccolò Gualtieri
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  A shell of Conus marmoreus after it has been cleaned
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  The shell of Conus marmoreus in various aspects
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, C., 1758
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, C., 1758
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, C., 1758
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, C., 1758
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, C., 1758
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  Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758, museum specimens with species tags