CONUS

• Conus is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.

• Prior to 2009, cone snail species had all traditionally been grouped into the single genus Conus. However, Conus is now more precisely defined, and there are several other accepted genera of cone snails.

• Species in the genus Conus sensu stricto can be found in the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, at depths ranging from the sublittoral to 1,000 m. They are very variable in some of their characters, such as the tuberculation of the spire and body whorl, striae, colours and the pattern of colouring.

• Many fossil species have been described; they are extensively distributed, and first appear in Cretaceous strata.