Conus ventricosus
Apertural and abapertural views of shell of Conus ventricosus Gmelin, J.F., 1791
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species:
C. ventricosus
Binomial name
Conus ventricosus
Gmelin, 1791
Synonyms[1]

See "List of synonyms"

Conus ventricosus, common name the Mediterranean cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[1][2]

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 the shell varies between 13 mm and 63 mm. The shell is yellowish brown, pink-brown or olivaceous. It is sometimes chocolate-brown, very closely nebulously spotted and reticulated. And sometimes it is interrupted-lined with chestnut, with a narrow, light band below the middle. The spire is elevated, rudely gradate and maculated. The interior of the aperture is light chocolate, with a light band.[3]

The peptide Contryphan-Vn was extracted from the venom of this marine snail.[4] It is part of a complex mixture of poisonous compounds secreted by this cone snailand used in worm hunting.[5]

Distribution

This marine species has a wide distribution found in shallow waters ranging in the Mediterranean Sea.

It was also found as a fossil from the Pliocene[6] and the Miocene.[7]

List of synonyms

References

  1. ^ a b Conus ventricosus Gmelin, 1791. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 2 October 2011.
  2. ^ Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213.
  3. ^ G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences (described as Conus mediterraneus)
  4. ^ Gabriella Raybaudi Massiliaa, M.Eugenia Schininàb, Paolo Ascenzia, Fabio Polticelli, Contryphan-Vn: A Novel Peptide from the Venom of the Mediterranean Snail Conus ventricosus; Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications Volume 288, Issue 4, 9 November 2001, Pages 908–913
  5. ^ Cristina Romeo, Laura Di Francesco, Marco Oliverio, Paola Palazzo, Gabriella Raybaudi Massilia, Paolo Ascenzi, Fabio Polticelli, Maria Eugenia Schininà: Conus ventricosus venom peptides profiling by HPLC-MS: A new insight in the intraspecific variation; Journal of Separation Science, 2008, DOI: 10.1002/jssc.200700448
  6. ^ Bronn, H. G., 1831. Italiens Tertiär-Gebilde und deren organische Einschlüsse-176
  7. ^ Glibert (1958). Bull.Inst.R.Sci.Nat.Belg.34 #32

External links

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