Phasmoconus Explained

Phasmoconus is a subgenus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the genus Conus, family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[1] [2]

In the latest classification of the family Conidae by Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015), Phasmoconus has become a subgenus of Conus as Conus (Phasmoconus) Mörch, 1852 (type species: Conus radiatus Gmelin, 1791) represented as Conus Linnaeus, 1758 [3]

Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes Phasmoconus from Conus in the following ways:[4]

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 elongated and subcylindrical in shape with angulate shoulders. The protoconch is usually multispiral, but rarely paucispiral. The anal notch is shallow, and an anterior notch is either slight or absent. The periostracum is smooth, and the operculum is small.

Radular tooth (not known for fossil species)

The anterior section of the radular tooth is approximately the same length as the posterior section but in some species one section may be longer than the other. The blade extends less than one-half the length of the anterior section of the radular tooth. A basal spur is absent, and the barb is short. The waist is obvious, and there is an elongated terminating cusp. There is a short row of serrations between the barb and accessory process.

Geographical distribution

The species in this genus occur in the Indo-Pacific and Australian regions.

Feeding habits

These species are piscivorous, meaning that these cone snails prey on fish.

Species list

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

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Bouchet, P. (2011). Phasmoconus Mörch, 1852. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=428966 on 5 June 2012
  2. Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp.
  3. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyu055 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
  4. Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.

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