Conus litoglyphus

Conus litoglyphus
Shell of Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792, measuring 44.3 mm in height, collected at low tide in coral sand off Zanzibar, in Africa.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Clade:	Caenogastropoda
Clade:	Hypsogastropoda
Clade:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. litoglyphus
Binomial name
Conus litoglyphus "Meuschen, F.C." Hwass, C.H. in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
Synonyms[1]
Conus (Strategoconus) litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 Conus albomaculatus G. B. Sowerby II, 1841 Conus bicolor G. B. Sowerby I, 1833 (March) Conus carpenteri Crosse, 1865 Conus inermis Tinker, 1952 Conus lacinulatus Kiener, 1845 Conus seychellensis Nevill & Nevill, 1874 Conus subcapitaneus Link, 1807 Cucullus cinamomeus Röding, 1798 Cucullus orleanus Röding, 1798 Rhizoconus seychellensis Nevill & Nevill, 1874 Strategoconus litoglyphus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)

Conus litoglyphus, common name the lithograph cone, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, more popularly known as a cone snail, cone shell or cone. ^[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.

Drawing of Conus litoglyphus

Shell description

The size of an adult shell varies between 35 mm and 75 mm. The thick shell is small with a low spire. It has five rows of small granules at anterior end of whorl. It is dark brown or red in color with a mottled cream banding around the shoulders and across the body whorl. The narrow aperture is white with a brown coloration at the anterior end.

Distribution

This is an Indo-Pacific species, found in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean off Aldabra, Chagos, the Mascarene Basin and Mauritius.

Gallery

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  Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
• 
  Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
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  Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792
• 
  Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, J.G., 1792

External links

• Gastropods.com : Strategoconus litoglyphus; accessed: 6 September 2011
• Conus litoglyphus Picture - Picture of shells of this species
• Catalogue of recent and fossil Conus - Picture and account of this species
• Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea

References

1. Bouchet, P. (2011). Conus litoglyphus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215430 on 2011-09-05

• Bruguière, M. 1792. Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par ordre de matières. Histoire naturelle des vers. Paris : Panckoucke Vol. 1 i-xviii, 757 pp.
• Röding, P.F. 1798. Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp.
• Link, H.F. 1807. Beschreibung der Naturalien Sammlung der Universität zu Rostock. Rostock : Alders Erben.
• Sowerby, G.B. (1st) 1833. Conus. pls 24-37 in Sowerby, G.B. (2nd) (ed). The Conchological Illustrations or coloured figures of all the hitherto unfigured recent shells. London : G.B. Sowerby (2nd).
• Dufo, M.H. 1840. Observations sur les Mollusques marins, terrestres et fluviatiles des iles Séchelles et des Amirantes. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris 2 14, Zoologie: 45-80
• Reeve, L.A. 1843. Monograph of the genus Conus. pls 1-39 in Reeve, L.A. (ed.). Conchologica Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 1.
• Kiener, L.C. 1845. Spécies général et Iconographie des coquilles vivantes, comprenant la collection du Muséum d'histoire Naturelle de Paris, la collection de Lamarck, celle du Prince Massena (appartenant maintenant a M. le Baron B. Delessert) et les découvertes récentes des voyageurs. Paris : Rousseau et Baillière Vol. 2.
• Nevill, G. & Nevill, H. 1874. On new marine Mollusca from the Indian Ocean. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 43(2): 21-30
• Tinker, S. 1952. Pacific Sea Shells. A handbook of common marine mollusks of Hawaii and the south seas. Tokyo : Tuttle 240 pp.
• Hinton, A. 1972. Shells of New Guinea and the Central Indo-Pacific. Milton : Jacaranda Press xviii 94 pp.
• Salvat, B. & Rives, C. 1975. Coquillages de Polynésie. Tahiti : Papéete Les editions du pacifique, pp. 1-391.
• Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. Tropical Pacific Marine Shells. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls.
• Kay, E.A. 1979. Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and shore fauna of Hawaii. Section 4 : Mollusca. Honolulu, Hawaii : Bishop Museum Press Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication Vol. 64(4) 653 pp.
• Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice.
• Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
• Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp.
• Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 91-630-4594-X. 448 pp.
• 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.