Conus aulicus
Encyclopedia
Conus aulicus, common name the princely cone, is a species
of a predatory sea snail
, a marine
gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snail
s, cone shells or cones.
. The color of the shell is chocolate-brown, covered by elevated close revolving lines of darker color. The surface is irregularly overlaid by subtriangular white spots, some of which are very large. The operculum
is a very minute square on the dorsal surface of the hinder part of the foot.
The proboscis
of Conus aulicus is varied with red and white.
; in the Indo-Pacific Region (excl. Hawaii).
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of a predatory sea snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
, a marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snail
Cone snail
Conidae is a taxonomic family of minute to quite large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Conoidea.The snails within this family are sophisticated predatory animals...
s, cone shells or cones.
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 65 mm and 163 mm. The shell is rather narrow and has an elevated spireSpire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
. The color of the shell is chocolate-brown, covered by elevated close revolving lines of darker color. The surface is irregularly overlaid by subtriangular white spots, some of which are very large. The operculum
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
is a very minute square on the dorsal surface of the hinder part of the foot.
The proboscis
Proboscis
A proboscis is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In simpler terms, a proboscis is the straw-like mouth found in several varieties of species.-Etymology:...
of Conus aulicus is varied with red and white.
Distribution
This marine species occurs in the Indian Ocean along Chagos and MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
; in the Indo-Pacific Region (excl. Hawaii).