Flea stitch cone
| Flea stitch cone | ||||||||||||
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Enclosure of Conus pulicarius |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Conus pulicarius | ||||||||||||
| Hwass in Bruguière , 1792 |
The Flea cone or Flea-cone shell ( Conus pulicarius ) is a screw from the family of the cone snails (genus Conus ), as two subtypes within Indopazifik is used and from Vielborstern - in particular Capitellidae - and hedgehog worms fed. According to Röckel, Korn and Kohn, Conus pulicarius vautieri also belongs to this as a subspecies.
features
Conus pulicarius carries a medium-sized to moderately large, firm to heavy snail shell , which reaches 3.5 to 7.5 cm in length in adult snails. The circumference of the body is conical, conical cylindrical or bulbous conical to broadly conical, the outline on the shoulder convex and otherwise almost straight, sometimes slightly convex near the base. The case has a distinct siphonal fasciole that can be set off by an incision. The shoulder is almost angled to rounded and slightly to heavily covered with tubercles. The thread is low to medium high, its outline is slightly concave to straight. The Protoconch has about three and a half whorls and measures a maximum of 0.7 mm. The first whorls of the Teleoconch are heavily covered with tubercles. The seam ramps of the Teleoconch are concave with 1 to 4 to 5 increasing spiral grooves. The area around the body is covered in the quarter at the base with spiral grooves and adjacent ribs at alternating intervals.
The color of the housing differs between the two subspecies. In Conus pulicarius pulicarius the base color is white. The circumference of the body has spiral rows of irregularly arranged black spots or bars, which are combined in a third at the shoulder and at the base in an interrupted spiral band, often highlighted by underlying yellow, brown or purple shadows. Usually white lines alternate with black markings next to the base. The black dots and bars can merge into continuous axial flames. The whorls of the Protoconch are white to gray. The seam ramps of the Teleoconch are covered with alternating continuous black markings in alternating numbers and arrangements. The inside of the case mouth is white to bluish-white and often yellow or orange in color.
In Conus pulicarius vautieri , the basic color is brownish-gray with a reddish-brown color pattern and bands on the circumference of the body, which are underlaid in reddish-brown, also towards the apex with clear white lines and a white case mouth. In Hansa Bay in New Guinea, the top of the foot is ivory-colored with mixed cream and gray, sometimes also pink and green, the middle area more or less with pale dark yellow spots, in front with a central black spot and 2 rows of black spots pointing backwards occasional white edge. The sole of the foot is ivory-colored with a dark yellow color. The rostrum is olive-gray or pale dark yellow, the antennae pale yellow. The sipho can be white with an orange tip, proximally colored brown on the dorsal side and with a black half-ring or, like the foot, colored with white dots and dark yellow spots. In Hawaii, the foot and rostrum are pale dark yellow with yellowish to reddish-brown spots, the tip of the sipho is reddish-orange with subsequent pale yellow-brown and black bands.
The strong radula teeth connected to a poison gland have a barb on the tip and a large second barb or cutting edge on the opposite side. They are sawn over a short distance, ending in a prong. A spur sits at the base.
distribution and habitat
Conus pulicarius is widespread in the Indo-Pacific , as a subspecies Conus pulicarius pulicarius in the Indian Ocean on the Cocos Islands and the north-western coast of Australia and in the central western Pacific Ocean with Polynesia except the Marquesas, and as a subspecies Conus pulicarius vautieri exclusively on the Marquesas .
It lives from the intertidal zone to depths of the sea of more than 75 m in deep sand away from limestone rocks or growing corals, mostly in sand-filled trenches or sandy areas on reefs or in bays. It is reported to be either nocturnal only or both nocturnal and diurnal.
Development cycle
Like all cone snails, Conus pulicarius is separate sexes, and the male mates with the female with his penis . The female lays 18 to 19 mm long and 14 to 15 mm wide off Hawaii , 17 to 17.5 mm long and 13 to 14 mm wide off Lizard Island (Australia) and 10 to 11 mm long and 8 to 9 mm wide off Eniwetok Egg capsules with finely notched edges. The eggs in them have a diameter of 150 to 175 µm, from which it is concluded that the Veliger larvae swim free for at least 26 to 27 days before they sink down and metamorphose into crawling snails .
nutrition
The prey of Conus pulicarius consists of erranten Vielborstern particular family Capitellidae , occasionally Nereididae and Eunicidae he with his Radulazähnen stands and using the poison out of his venom glands immobilized. Hedgehog worms were also observed as prey off Hawaii . The poison affects the prey mentioned here, but not snails or fish.
Taxonomy and status of Conus pulicarius and Conus vautieri
Conus pulicarius was first described by Christian Hee Hwass in the Encyclopédie méthodique - Histoire naturelle des vers by Jean-Guillaume Bruguière in 1792 , while Conus vautieri was first described in 1845 by Louis Charles Kiener . According to Dieter Röckel, Werner Korn and Alan J. Kohn (1995) the latter is not a separate species, but as Conus pulicarius vautieri a subspecies of Conus pulicarius .
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] pulicarius Hwass., P. 19, C [onus] vautieri Kiener., P. 19.
- Jerry G. Walls: Cone Shells: A Synopsis of the Living Conidae TFH Publications, Neptune (New Jersey) 1979. p. 814.
- 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).
