Conuber conicum, the conical moon snail,[2] is a species of predatory sea snail, in the family Naticidae, the moon snails. It was first described in 1822 as Natica conica by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.[1][3]

Conuber conicum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Naticidae
Genus: Conuber
Species:
C. conicum
Binomial name
Conuber conicum
(Lamarck, 1822)
Synonyms[1]

Natica conica Lamarck, 1822
Natica pyramis Reeve, 1855
Natica tasmanica Tenison Woods, 1876
Natica ustulata G. B. Sowerby II, 1883
Polinices conicus (Lamarck, 1822)
Sigaretus acuminatus A. Adams & Reeve, 1850

Description

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The length of the shell attains 10 mm, its diameter 6 mm.

(Described as Natica tasmanica) The shell has a somewhat covered umbilicus. It is depressedly orbicular, thick, with a short but slightly exsert spire. The whorls are convex, rounded, smooth, or obliquely thickly and most minutely striate. The aperture is semilunar and horizontal. The columella is somewhat thin, with a prominent callosity, which is spirally sulcate. The umbilicus is angularly excavate; with a kind of callosity within the suture at the aperture. The shell is pale fulvous or whitish, banded with brownish or orange lines. The base of the shell is white, chestnut or fulvous within.[4]

Distribution

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This species is endemic to Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia). It is a carnivorous marine snail found on intertidal sand flats, all around Australia. It feeds on small bivalves.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Conuber conicum (Lamarck, 1822)". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Species Conuber conicum (Lamarck, 1822)". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  3. ^ Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. (1822). Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres. Suite des Gastéropodes. Vol. 6. Paris. p. 198. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.12712.
  4. ^ Tenison Woods, J. E. (1876). Descriptions of new Tasmanian shells. Papers and Proceedings and Report of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 1875: 134–162.
  • Hedley, C. 1916. A preliminary index of the Mollusca of Western Australia. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 1: 152-226
  • Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109
  • Murray, F.V. 1963. Notes on the spawn and early life history of two species of Conuber Finlay & Marwick, 1937 (Naticidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australasia 1(6): 49-58
  • Macpherson, J.H. 1966. Port Phillip Survey 1957–1963. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 27: 201–288
  • Coleman, N. 1975. What Shell is That? Sydney : Lansdowne Press 298 pp.
  • Wells, F.E. & Bryce, C.W. 1986. Seashells of Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 207 pp.
  • Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.
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