Virgin cone
| Virgin cone | ||||||||||||
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Housing from Conus virgo |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Conus virgo | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The virgin cone , the maiden cone or the virgin cone snail ( Conus virgo ) is a snail from the cone snail family (genus Conus ), which is widespread in the Indo-Pacific . It feeds on annelid worms belonging to the Terebellidae family .
features
Conus virgo carries a moderately large to large, firm to heavy snail shell , which in adult snails reaches 5 to 15 cm in length. The circumference of the body is conical, the contour in the quarter is convex towards the apex and straight towards the base. The shoulder is angled. The thread is low, its outline slightly concave to slightly convex. The seam ramps of the Teleoconch are almost flat to slightly concave, with 3 to 5 to 6 increasing spiral grooves in the later passages, which are supplemented by parallel stripes or completely replaced by numerous stripes in the last passages. The circumference of the body is covered with weak to decrepit ribs near the base, with fine ribs at large intervals and wrinkled threads in between extending to the middle and beyond.
The surface of the case is colored white to yellow or orange, occasionally with darker orange growth lines along the outer lip of the case mouth. The base is dark blue-violet, the circumferences of the protoconch, which are mostly eroded in adults, are light-purple, the case mouth is white, and the base is blue-violet.
The thick, opaque, horny periostracum is greenish-brown to brown and has fine axial ribs.
The top of the foot is white with brown spots and a cross-shaped transverse spot in the front section, a black spot at the operculum and a dotted brown line in between in front of the edges. The rear end and the front corners are white. Sometimes there are 4 short longitudinal rows of black dots in the front central section. The edge of the foot is yellow to orange, which sometimes continues on the top. The sole of the foot is cream-colored with brown spots that are sometimes darker brown in front. The rostrum and antennae are yellow or dorsally yellow and ventrally white, with a black transverse band running over the rostrum. The sipho is white with yellow edges with a black transverse stripe in the middle and a brown stripe or dorsally a group of brown spots at the base.
The radula teeth, which are connected to a venom gland, are long and curved and have two opposing barbs at the tip. They are sawn down more than half the shaft, ending in a backward serration. There is a distinct spur at the base.
distribution and habitat
Conus virgo is distributed in the Indo-Pacific , for example in the Red Sea , off Tanzania , Madagascar , Aldabra , Chagos , the Mascarene Islands , India , the Philippines and Australia ( Northern Territory , Queensland , Western Australia ), but is absent in Hawaii. It lives in the intertidal zone and down to a depth of around 15 m on sand and scree, sometimes between vegetation and under dead corals.
Development cycle
Like all cone snails, Conus virgo is sexually separate, and the male mates with the female with his penis , for which purpose males and females come together in large numbers. The female attaches basal plates with short rows of egg capsules to the underside of rocks, which form dense, irregular clutches. In Sri Lanka and the Seychelles , egg laying was observed in November, January and August at a depth of about 1.5 m on the far side of reefs. The size of a capsule in one place varies between about 12 to 13 mm in length and 12 to 13 mm in width on the one hand and about 30 to 32 mm in length and 20 to 22 mm in width on the other. The number of eggs in a capsule is around 3900 to 18,000, in a clutch around 58,000 to 700,000. The eggs inside are about 170 to 225 µm in size, from which it is concluded that the Veliger larvae swim freely for at least 21 days (at 170 µm 26 days) before they sink down and metamorphose into crawling snails .
nutrition
The prey of Conus virgo consists of sedentary Vielborstern particular family Terebellidae he with his Radulazähnen stands and using the poison gland immobilized.
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] virgo Linn., P. 43.
- 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).
