Conus miliaris

Miliariconus miliaris
Apertural view of a shell of Miliariconus miliaris miliaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Subfamily:	Coninae
Genus:	Miliariconus
Species:	M. miliaris
Binomial name
Miliariconus miliaris Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 [1]
Synonyms[2]
Conus barbadensis Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 Conus fulgetrum G. B. Sowerby II, 1834 Conus minimus var. granulatus G. B. Sowerby II, 1834 Conus scaber Kiener, 1845 Miliariconus miliaris miliaris Hwass, C.H. in Bruguière, J.G., 1792

Miliariconus miliaris, common name the thousand-spot cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.^[2]

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 12 mm and 43 mm. The spire is more or less raised, striate or sometimes nearly smooth, with or without tubercles The body whorl is striate, the stride usually grannlous towards the base, and sometimes throughout. The color of the shell is yellowish or light chestnut or grayish, variously clouded with darker chestnut or olive, often irregularly light-banded at the middle, and below the spire, and encircled with chestnut spots on the striae. The interior is chocolate, with a central white band. There is considerable variation in the height and coronation of the spire, as well as in the color and pattern of the markings. ^[3]

Distribution

Conus miliaris is a species of wide distribution, and apparently everywhere common. It occurs in tropical to subtropical shallow water environments from the Red Sea and eastern shores of Africa in the western Indian Ocean (Aldabra, Chagos, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique and Tanzania) to Easter Island and Sala y Gómez in the southeastern Pacific (but not along the Galapagos Islands, the Marquesas Islands and Hawaii).^[4]

Feeding habits

These snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Presumably in response to the relative absence of congeners at Easter Island, Miliariconus miliaris has undergone ecological release: it preys on a more diverse assemblage of prey at Easter Island and is more abundant at Easter Island than at other localities in its range.^[4] Conus miliaris from most areas in the Indo-West Pacific, where it co-occurs with as many as 36 congeners, preys almost exclusively on three species of eunicid polychaetes (Eunicidae).^[4]

But at Easter Island its diet is considerably broader and includes additional species of eunicids as well as several species of nereids, an onuphid and members of seven other polychaete families.^[4] Its prey on Easter Island include: Eunicidae includes Lysidice collaris, Nematonereis unicornis, Eunice afra, Eunice cariboea and Palola siciliensis; Nereididae includes Perinereis singaporensis; Onuphidae includes Onuphis sp.^[4]

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.5 text from the reference ^[4]

1. ^ Bruguière, J. G., and Hwass, C. H., 1792. Cone. Encyclopédie Méthodique: Histoire Naturelle des Vers, 1: 586 -757
2. ^ ^{a b} Conus miliaris Hwass in Bruguière, 1792.  Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215533 on 31 July 2011.
3. ^ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI p. 21-22; 1879
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Duda T. F. Jr. & Lee T. (2009). "Ecological Release and Venom Evolution of a Predatory Marine Snail at Easter Island". PLoS ONE 4(5): e5558. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005558

• Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III
• 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
• Spencer, H.; Marshall. B. (2009). All Mollusca except Opisthobranchia. In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp

External links

• The Conus Biodiversity website
• Gastropods.com: Miliariconus miliaris miliaris; accessed: 31 July 2011