Conus monachus explained

Conus monachus, common name the monastic cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.^[1]

These snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 18mm and 74mm. The shell is a little inflated and distantly grooved below. The spire is striate and somewhat convex. The shell is white, longitudinally marbled and flecked with dull blue or purple.^[2] It captures its prey by using the "taser-and-tether" (harpoon) strategy. This means it stuns its prey by using venom and extends a proboscis from its rostrum and "hooks" the fish, the same way a harpoon would.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

This marine species occurs in the Indo-Pacific. It is found in the neritic zone and resides in muddy sand and under rocks.

Further reading

• Web site: Linnaeus C . 1758 . Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. . The system of nature is divided into three kingdoms of nature, based on classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, and places. . Latin . Tenth, reformed. . Laurentius Salvius . Holmiae (Stockholm) . https://web.archive.org/web/20170613040751/http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 . 2017-06-13 .
• Puillandre N, Duda TF, Meyer C, Olivera BM, Bouchet P . One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails . The Journal of Molluscan Studies . 81 . 1 . 1–23 . February 2015 . 26300576 . 4541476 . 10.1093/mollus/eyu055 .

External links

• To World Register of Marine Species
• Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bouchet P . 2015 . Conus monachus Linnaeus, 1758 . MolluscaBase . World Register of Marine Species . 2015-11-04 .
2. Book: Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species . Tryon GW . 1884 . VI . Philadelphia . Academy of Natural Sciences .
3. Olivera BM, Seger J, Horvath MP, Fedosov AE . Prey-Capture Strategies of Fish-Hunting Cone Snails: Behavior, Neurobiology and Evolution . Brain, Behavior and Evolution . 86 . 1 . 58–74 . September 2015 . 26397110 . 4621268 . 10.1159/000438449 .