Conus ferrugineus
A venomous cone snail with a bright lemon-yellow body.
Last updated
Jan Delsing · via Wikipedia: Conus ferrugineus · Public domain
Conus ferrugineus is a marine gastropod mollusk belonging to the family Conidae, a group commonly known as cone snails. As with all members of the genus Conus, it is a predatory and venomous animal. Its sting can affect humans, so live specimens should be handled with great caution or avoided entirely.
Adult shells range from 40 to 93 millimeters in length. The shell is thin, with a depressed, keeled, and grooved spire that is yellowish and marked with brown blotches.
The body whorl has grooves below and is yellowish, featuring two bands of irregular, forked, dark brown markings that are interrupted in the middle and at the base. Faint, widely spaced narrow brown spiral lines are also present. The aperture is white. The living mollusk itself is a bright lemon-yellow.
This species is found in the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Indonesia to the Marquesas Islands, and also occurs off Australia (Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia) as well as New Caledonia.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumMollusca
- ClassGastropoda
- SubclassCaenogastropoda
- OrderNeogastropoda
- FamilyConidae
- GenusConus
- SpeciesConus ferrugineus
Named by Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
Close relatives
Other species of Conus with a Codexery entry.
- Conus abbas Conus abbas
- Conus abrolhosensis Conus abrolhosensis
- Conus achatinus Conus achatinus
- Conus acutangulus Conus acutangulus
- Conus aito Conus aito
- Conus ammiralis Conus ammiralis
- Conus anabathrum Conus anabathrum
- Conus anemone Conus anemone
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Conus ferrugineus (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 426497 (CC BY 4.0)
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC)
- LC▲ this species
- NT
- VU
- EN
- CR
- EW
- EX
Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category
How big is it?
Largest length in the source, 0.09 m, next to a 1.8 m person.
Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Conus ferrugineus
Where the conus ferrugineus has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (179 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 20 inland records left out (institution coordinates).
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lore & Background
The thin shell of Conus ferrugineus has a depressed carinate and striate spire, yellowish in color and maculated with brown. The body whorl is striated below, yellowish, with two series of longitudinal forked and irregular dark brown markings that are interrupted in the middle and at the base.
Traces of distant narrow brown revolving lines are present, and the aperture is white. The living mollusc is a bright lemon-yellow. The species occurs in the Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to the Marquesas islands, off Australia (including Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia) and New Caledonia.
More in Cone Snails
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Conus ferrugineus (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List assessment.
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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