Conus martensi

Conus martensi is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.

Conus martensi
Shell of Conus martensi (specimen at MNHN, Paris)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. martensi
Binomial name
Conus martensi E. A. Smith, 1884
Synonyms
Conus (Rhizoconus) sazanka Shikama, 1970 (basionym) Conus (Splinoconus) martensi E. A. Smith, 1884 · accepted, alternate representation Conus (Splinoconus) sazanka Shikama, 1970 Conus kurzi Petuch, 1974 Conus sazanka Shikama, 1970 Dendroconus martensi (E. A. Smith, 1884) Isoconus martensi (E. A. Smith, 1884) Isoconus sazanka (Shikama, 1970) Kioconus (Isoconus) kurzi (Petuch, 1974) Kioconus (Isoconus) martensi (E. A. Smith, 1884) Kioconus (Isoconus) sazanka (Shikama, 1970) Kioconus martensi (E. A. Smith, 1884) Kioconus sazanka (Shikama, 1970) Rhizoconus yoshioi Azuma, 1973

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 17 mm and 78 mm. (Original description) The shell is small, turbinate, much narrowed towards the base or front. It has an orange colour, rather paler upon the spire. It contains about 10 whorls, flat-topped and a little sloping, raised somewhat above one another, concentrically three-grooved, separated by a deepish suture. The body whorl is subacutely angled above, then a trifle convex at the sides, and being much attenuated anteriorly has a somewhat piriform appearance. It is sculptured with fine lines of growth and transverse indistinct striae or shallow grooves, which around the base are much deeper. The aperture is very narrow. The outer lip is thin and moderately sinuated above the angle. The spire is short, graduated, with rectilinear outlines.

The species is distinguished by the narrowness of the aperture, its somewhat pyriform shape, and the uniform orange tint of its colouring. The spire is paler, except at the deepish suture, which is likewise orange.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean in the Mozambique Channel and from East Africa to Oman; off Réunion and the Mascarenes; also off Japan, the Philippines, East Indonesia, New Caledonia, Hawaii and in the Western Pacific.

References

• Shikama, T., 1970. On Some Noteworthy Marine Gastropoda from Southwestern Japan (II). Science Reports of the Yokohama National University, sect. 2. no. 16: 19 -27
• Severns, M. (2011). Shells of the Hawaiian Islands - The Sea Shells. Conchbooks, Hackenheim. 564 pp
• Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp.
• 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

External links

• The Conus Biodiversity website
• "Kioconus martensi". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.