Conus augur

Conus augur, common name the auger cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.[2]

Conus augur
Apertural view of a shell of Conus augur
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. augur
Binomial name
Conus augur sensu Lightfoot, 1786 [1]
Synonyms[2]
Conus (Strategoconus) augur sensu Lightfoot, 1786 accepted, alternate representation Conus augur Hwass in Bruguiere, 1792 Conus punctatus Gmelin, 1791 Conus magus Röding, 1798 Conus punctatus Gmelin, 1791 Cucullus magus Röding, 1798 (junior secondary homonym of Conus magus Linnaeus, 1758) Cucullus pulverulentus Röding, 1798 Vituliconus augur (Lightfoot, J., 1786)

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 45 mm and 76 mm. The creamy white shell is encircled by close rows of very small chestnut dots, with two bands of irregular brown markings, one above, the other below the middle of the body whorl. The spire is maculated with brown.[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean along the Aldabra Atoll and Madagascar; and in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.

References

1. Lightfoot, J., 1786. A Catalogue of the Portland Museum, Lately the Property of the Duchess Dowager of Portland, Deceased; Which will be sold by Auction.
2. Conus augur sensu Lightfoot, 1786 . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 12 July 2011.
3. George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology, vol. VI, p. 51; 1879

• Richard G. , 1990 Révision des Conidae (Mollusques Gastéropodes) du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle de Paris, p. 231 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. 4 September 2009 Edition
• Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2013) Illustrated catalog of the living cone shells. 517 pp. Wellington, Florida: MdM Publishing.
• Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015). One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 81: 1–23
• Franklin, J.B,, S. Antony Fernando, B. A. Chalke, K. S. Krishnan. (2007). 'Radular Morphology of Conus (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Conidae) from India'. Molluscan Research. Vol. 27 (3): 111–122.

1. Franklin, J.B, K. A. Subramanian, S. A. Fernando and Krishnan K. S. (2009). Diversity and distribution of cone snails (Vallapoo) along the Tamilnadu coast, India, Zootaxa 2250: 1–63 (Monograph).

Gallery

• 
  Conus augur (Lightfoot, J. in Solander, 1786)
• 
  Conus augur (Lightfoot, J. in Solander, 1786)
• 
  Conus augur (Lightfoot, J. in Solander, 1786)
• 
  Conus augur (Lightfoot, J. in Solander, 1786)

External links

• The Conus Biodiversity website
• "Vituliconus augur". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
• Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea