Conus austroviola is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
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.
Description
The size of the shell varies between 23 mm and 57 mm. Distribution This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.
References
Röckel, D. and Korn, W. 1992. New species and subspecies of the genus Conus (Mollusca: Neogastropoda) from the Indo-Pacific. Acta Conchyliorum 3(1):5–29, 3 pls. Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp. Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015). One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 81: 1–23
External links The Conus Biodiversity website Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea