Conus leopardus

Conus leopardus
A shell of Conus leopardus, anterior end towards the bottom of the image
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Clade: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species: C. leopardus
Binomial name
Conus leopardus
(Röding, 1798) [1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Conus (Lithoconus) leopardus (Röding, 1798) · accepted, alternate representation
  • Conus millepunctatus Lamarck, 1822
  • Conus millepunctatus var. aldrovandi Dautzenberg, 1937
  • Conus pardus Link, 1807
  • Cucullus leopardus Röding, 1798 (original combination)
  • Lithoconus leopardus (Röding, 1798)

Conus leopardus, common name the leopard cone, is a species of a predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.[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 an adult shell varies between 50 mm and 222 mm.

shell of Conus leopardus

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Aldabra, Chagos, Madagascar, the Mascarene basin, Mauritius and Tanzania; in the entire Indo-Pacific Region; off Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

See also

References

  1. Röding, P. F., 1798. Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus Cimeliorum e Tribus Regnis Naturae Quae olim Collegerat Joa.., 2: I-VIII: 1 -199
  2. 1 2 WoRMS (2010). Conus leopardus (Röding, 1798). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215464 on 28 July 2011
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