Conus nigropunctatus, common name the black-spot cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conus nigropunctatus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=429215 on 2015-11-09
These snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of stinging humans.
Description The size of the shell varies between 25 mm and 50 mm. The bulbous shell has a convex, striate spire. The body whorl has rounded striate, which are usually obsolete above, granular below. The color is olive, chestnut-, chocolate- or pink-brown, variously marbled and flecked with white, often faintly white-banded below the middle. The shell is encircled by a series of chocolate-colored dots.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences (described as Conus catus var. nigropunctatus)
Distribution This marine species occurs in the Red Sea and the Western Pacific
References
Petit, R. E. (2009). George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa. 2189: 1–218 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
To World Register of Marine Species Cone Shells - Knights of the Sea