Conus swainsoni 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.Filmer, R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 - 1998. Leiden. 388 pp. 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 30 mm and 78 mm.
Discovery The species Conus swainsoni was first described in 1986 by the malacologists Jean-Claude Estival and Rudo von Cosel in VENUS (The Japanese Journal of Malacology).Estival, J.; Von Cosel, R. (1986). Conus swainsoni, a New Cone (Gastropoda: Conidae) from New Caledonia. VENUS (The Japanese Journals of Malacology). 45(2): 87-98.
Distribution This marine species occurs off New Caledonia.
References
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 Estival, J.C. & Cosel, R. von, 1986 Conus swainsoni, a new Cone (Gastropoda: Conidae) from New Caledonia, vol. 45(n°2), p. 87-98
External links
The Conus Biodiversity website Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
Holotype in MNHN, Paris