Conus miles

Rhizoconus miles
Apertural view of Rhizoconus miles
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Subfamily:	Coninae
Genus:	Rhizoconus
Species:	R. miles
Binomial name
Rhizoconus miles Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Rhizoconus miles Linnaeus, 1758

Rhizoconus miles, common name the soldier cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.^[1]

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 between 50 mm and 136 mm. The spire is obsoletely tuberculate or smooth and rather depressed. The body whorl is bordered by a broad shoulder and is spirally ridged at the base. The color of the thick shell is yellowish white or pale orange, with close narrow, wavy, thread-like longitudinal chestnut strigations, interrupted by a chocolate, fairly narrow, revolving band above the middle. The base is stained chocolate, bordered upwards by progressively lighter bands. The aperture is banded, chocolate and white. ^[2]

Distribution

This cone snail is found in Aldabra, Chagos, Madagascar, Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Red Sea and Tanzania.^[1] and in the entire Indo-Pacific.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Conus miles Linnaeus, 1758.  Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215479 on 30 July 2011.
2. ^ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 40; 1879

• Vine, P. (1986). Red Sea Invertebrates. Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp
• Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice
• 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

External links

• The Conus Biodiversity website