Conus fulmen

Conus fulmen
Apertural view of Conus fulmen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Subfamily:	Coninae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. fulmen
Binomial name
Conus fulmen Reeve, 1843[1]
Synonyms[2]
Conus fulmen kirai Kuroda, 1956 Conus modestus G. B. Sowerby II, 1833 Conus wistaria Shikama, 1970 Pionoconus fulmen (Reeve, 1843)

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

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.

Description

The size of an adult shell varies from 45 mm and 80 mm.

The shell is somewhat elongately ovate, smooth and slightly grooved towards the base. The color of the shell is pale rose-purple, white round the middle ; longitudinally marked with two or three very prominent, broad, waved, purple-brown streaks. The spire is obtusely convex, variegated with purple-brown. The apex is rose-tinted. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs along Vietnam and South Japan to the Ryukyus

References

1. ^ Reeve, L. A., 1843. Monograph of the genus Conus. Conchologia Iconica, i: figures and descriptions of the shells of molluscs; with remarks on their affinities, synonymy, and geographical distribution, 1. Conus
2. ^ ^{a b} Conus fulmen Reeve, 1843.  Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=428129 on 22 July 2011.
3. ^ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 65; 1879

• Filmer R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 - 1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp.
• Tucker J.K. (2009). Recent cone species database. September 4th 2009 Edition
• Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp.

External links

• The Conus Biodiversity website
• Gastropods.com: Pionoconus fulmen fulmen; accessed : 22 July 2011