Conus mus, common name the mouse cone, 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.
Distribution This shallow-water species occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico; in the Western Atlantic from North Carolina, USA and the Bermudas to Venezuela including the Eastern Caribbean island chain, and Barbados.
Description The maximum recorded shell length is 43.5 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. . The shell has a tuberculated spire. The body whorl is covered by narrow, raised revolving striae. Its color is ash-white, longitudinally streaked and maculated with chestnut. The tubercles of the spire are white, and there is usually a white band below the middle of the body whorl. The aperture is chestnut-colored, with a central white band.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences Rarely, giant specimens of 50–60 mm. are known, but these are far from normal.
Habitat Minimum recorded depth is 0 m. Maximum recorded depth is 18 m.
References
Bruguière, [J.-G.] 1792. Encyclopédie Méthodique. Histoire Naturelle des Vers. Encyclopédie Méthodique. Histoire Naturelle des Vers 1: 345–757. Panckoucke: Paris. Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 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
Gallery
External links
The Conus Biodiversity website Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea