Conus textile | |
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A live individual of Conus textile, head end towards the right | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Clade: | Caenogastropoda |
Clade: | Hypsogastropoda |
Clade: | Neogastropoda |
Superfamily: | Conoidea |
Family: | Conidae |
Genus: | Conus |
Species: | C. textile |
Binomial name | |
Conus textile Linnaeus, 1758 |
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Synonyms | |
See "List of synonyms" |
See "List of synonyms"
Conus textile, common name the textile cone or the cloth of gold cone is a venomous species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.
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. The conotoxin of this species is extremely dangerous to humans.
Typical length of adults is about 9 cm to 10 cm (3.5 in to 3.9 in). The maximum shell length for this species is 15 cm (5.9 in). The color pattern of its shell resembles a cellular automaton named Rule 30. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, with undulating longitudinal lines of chocolate, interrupted by triangular white spaces. These last are irregularly disposed, but crowded at the shoulder, base and middle so as to form bands. The spire is similarly marked. The aperture is white.
C. textile lives in the waters of the Red Sea, the tropical Indo-Pacific, off Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia), New Zealand, the Indian Ocean from eastern Africa to Hawaii, and French Polynesia.