Conus gloriamaris
| Conus gloriamaris | ||||||||||||
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Housing of Conus gloriamaris |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Conus gloriamaris | ||||||||||||
| Chemnitz , 1777 |
Conus gloriamaris , the "glory of the sea", is a snail fromthe cone snail family (genus Conus ).
features
The circumference of the snail shell of Conus gloriamaris is narrowly conical, convex towards the thread. In adult snails, the house reaches a length of 7.5 to 16.2 cm. The basic color of the housing is white. The surface of the body is covered by a network of drawn orange-brown to brown lines that form a pattern of numerous characteristic small to tiny white, dark-brown-framed triangles. In between there are yellowish brown spots with dark brown axial lines, usually arranged in three rows or bands. The thread, the circumference of which is clearly stepped, forms a moderately high cone. It has a pattern similar to that of the body. The periostracum is yellowish to brownish gray, thin, translucent and smooth. The housing of Conus gloriamaris resembles Conus textile in its drawing , but is significantly narrower and straighter, i.e. not bulbous.
The top of the white foot is speckled brown with a row of dark brown spots on the edge. The front edge of the foot is colored orange and has a central black spot. The rear edge zones are drawn in brown. The sole of the foot is speckled brown and beige. The head is white or brown with dark brown horizontal stripes. The tips of the antennae are brown on the outside. The sipho is cream colored with brown speckles and a wide black ring in the middle.
distribution
Conus gloriamaris occurs around the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , Solomon Islands , Samoa , Fiji and eastern Indonesia .
habitat
Conus gloriamaris lives on sand at a depth of 10 to 300 m.
food
Conus gloriamaris eats mollusks .
Importance to humans
Conus gloriamaris is a popular collector's item due to its patterned housing, so that humans can be regarded as a main enemy. Already Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz was in 1777 with the publication of his first description to the myth in that this cone snail is particularly rare and precious by, as he wrote in the title, this "extraordinarily rare type roller-like hooting or Kegelschnekken" the name of Gloria Maris , " Glory of the Sea “, gave. The natural habitat of this snail has been unknown for a long time, paying thousands of dollars for individual snail shells, only two dozen of which were in circulation. This led to some legends: In 1792, a collector who already had a “Gloria maris” snail shell bought another copy at auction in order to destroy it and thus preserve the value of his own piece. In 1969 the species was rediscovered in its natural habitat, so unit prices have since dropped to below $ 100. Nevertheless, this cone snail's house has remained a sought-after, relatively expensive collector's item.
Like other cone snails, Conus gloriamaris uses its poisonous harpoon not only to catch prey, but also for defense. He can cause dangerous injuries to people with his poisonous tooth.
literature
- George Washington Tryon: Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species , vol. VI; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 1884. C [onus] gloria-maris Hwass., P. 89.
- Dieter Röckel, Werner Korn, Alan J. Kohn: Manual of the Living Conidae Vol. 1: Indo-Pacific Region . Verlag Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden 1995. The texts on the individual cone snail species of the Indo-Pacific are published on The Conus Biodiversity website with the permission of the authors (see web links).
Web links
- The Conus Biodiversity Website: Conus gloriamaris Chemnitz, 1777
- Picture with snail
- Conus gloriamaris inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Kohn, A., 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz (1777): From an extremely rare species which bears the name Gloria maris. Activities of the Berlin Society of Friends of Nature Research, No. 3: pp. 321–331.
- ↑ Jaxshells: Conus gloria maris Chemnitz, 1777