Conus textile

Cylinder textile
A live individual, head end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Cylinder
Species:	C. textile
Binomial name
Cylinder textile Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms[1]
Cylinder concatenatus Kiener, 1845 Cylinder gloriamaris Perry, 1810 Cylindrus panniculus Lamarck, 1810 Cylindrus scriptus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858 Cylindrus textile var. ponderosa Dautzenberg, 1932 Cylindrus tigrinus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858 Cylindrus verriculum Reeve, 1843 Cylindrus aurelius Röding, 1798 Cylindrus auriger Röding, 1798 Cylindrus gloriamaris Röding, 1798 Cylindrus textilis osullivani Iredale, 1931 Cylindrus textilis

Cylinder textile, common name the Cloth of gold cone^[2] is a venomous species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. The species is extremely dangerous to humans.

Distribution

C. textile lives in the waters of the Red Sea, Indo-Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, the Indian Ocean from eastern Africa to Hawaii, and French Polynesia.^[3]

Subspecies:

• Cylinder textile archiepiscopus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 (synonyms : Conus archiepiscopus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 ; Conus cholmondeleyi Melvill, 1900 ; Conus communis Swainson, 1840 ; Conus episcopus var. elongata Dautzenberg, 1937; Conus eumitus Tomlin, 1926 ; Conus pyramidalis Lamarck, 1822; Conus pyramidalis Lamarck, 1810 ; Conus sirventi Fenaux, 1943 ; Conus suzannae van Rossum, 1990 ; Conus textile dahlakensis da Motta, 1982; Conus textile var. euetrios G. B. Sowerby III; Conus textile var. loman Dautzenberg, 1937; Conus textilinus Kiener, 1845)
• Conus textile neovicarius da Motta, 1982

Shell description

Dorsal view of Conus textile from Queensland, Australia

Typical length of adults is about 9 cm to 10 cm (3.5 in to 3.9 in).^[1] The maximum shell length for this species is 15 cm (5.9 in).^[4] The color pattern of its shell resembles a cellular automaton named rule 30. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, with undulating longitudinal lines of chocolate, interrupted by triangular white spaces. These last are irregularly disposed, but crowded at the shoulder, base and middle so as to form bands. The spire is similarly marked. The aperture is white. ^[5]

Ecology

Life cycle

The female lays several hundred eggs at a time, which hatch after about 16 or 17 days. After hatching, the larvae float around in the current for approximately 16 days. Afterward, they settle at the bottom of the ocean. By this point their length is about 1.5 mm (0.06 in).^[6]

Feeding habits

C. textile is a carnivorous species, and uses microscopic needles to inject a conotoxin to kill its prey. The proboscis, the tip of which holds the harpoon-like radular tooth, is capable of being extended to any part of its own shell. The living animal is a risk to any person handling it who has not taken proper care to protect exposed skin. Several human deaths have been attributed to this species.^[7][8]

Human uses

In popular culture

• The animal was used as a murder weapon in the season 4 episode of Hawaii Five-O called "Cloth of Gold."^[9]

References

Apertural view of Conus textile archiepiscopus

1. ^ ^{a b} "World Register of Marine Species". Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758. 2009. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215529. Retrieved 23 February 2010. 
2. ^ Conus (Cylindrus) textile textile
3. ^ "Online Learning Center: Textile Cone Snail". Aquarium of the Pacific. http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/full_description/textile_cone_snail/. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
4. ^ Poutiers, J. M. (1998). "Gastropods". In Carpenter, K. E.. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. 1. Rome: FAO. pp. 628. ISBN 92-5-104051-6. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/w7191e/w7191e55.pdf. 
5. ^ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 90; 1879
6. ^ Textile Cone Snail
7. ^ Cloth-of-Gold (Full Screen, Please)
8. ^ Textile Cone Shell(Conus textile)
9. ^ Five-O Oddities, Goofs, Trivia -- Season 4

• 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.
• Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg
• 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
• 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

Photographs of Conus textile