Conus melvilli

Conus melvilli, common name Melvill's cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[3]

Conus melvilli
Apertural and abapertural views of shell of Conus melvilli Sowerby, G.B. III, 1879
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Genus: Conus
Species:
C. melvilli
Binomial name
Conus melvilli
G. B. Sowerby III, 1879 [2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Chelyconus boschi Clover, P.W., 1972
  • Conus (Quasiconus) melvilli G. B. Sowerby III, 1879 · accepted, alternate representation
  • Conus boschi Clover, 1972
  • Conus pusio G. B. Sowerby II, 1834
  • Quasiconus melvilli (G. B. Sowerby III, 1879)

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 18 mm and 32 mm. The solid shell is abbreviately subcylindrical, and obtusely angulated. It is smooth and crenate-sulcate in front. ts color is grayish white, with cinnamon brown longitudinal clouds, and undulating revolving lines. The interstices show some curved longitudinal lines. The obtuse spire is strigate with brown. The aperture is brown-tinted.[4]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Oman, in the Persian Gulf and perhaps off the Maldives

References
  1. Raybaudi-Massilia, G. 2013. Conus melvilli. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T192715A2148017.
  2. Sowerby (iii), G. B. III, 1878. Descriptions of ten new Species of Shells. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 795 -798
  3. Conus melvilli G. B. Sowerby III, 1879. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 13 July 2011.
  4. G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
  • The Conus Biodiversity website
  • Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
  • "Quasiconus melvilli". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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