Conidae

Cone snails
A group of shells of various species of cone snails
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Fleming, 1822[1]
Subfamilies and genera

See text

Conidae is a taxonomic family of minute to quite large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Conoidea.

The snails within this family are sophisticated predatory animals.[2] They hunt and immobilize prey using a modified radular tooth along with a venom gland containing neurotoxins; the tooth is launched out of the snail's mouth in a harpoon-like action.

Until 1993, with the taxonomic changes proposed by Taylor, et al.[3], the family Conidae contained only Conus species, but then the family was split into several subfamilies, including many which were previously in the family Turridae. As a result of that change, the Conus species were moved to the subfamily Coninae.

Current taxonomic changes as of 2009 and 2011, based upon molecular phylogeny (see below), have elevated the subfamilies which were previously in the family Turridae to the status of families in their own right, leaving the family Conidae once again containing the species which were traditionally placed in that family.

Contents

List of Conus species

Main article: List of Conus species

The family Conidae currently still contains well over 600 recognized species, which traditionally have all been placed in the genus Conus.

Taxonomy

1993 taxonomy

According to Taylor, et al. (1993)[3] and the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005,[4] this family consisted of seven subfamilies.

2009 taxonomy

In 2009 John K. Tucker and Manuel J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the cone shells and their allies (which resorb their inner walls during growth) was based upon a cladistical analysis of anatomical characters including the radular tooth, the morphology (i.e. shell characters), as well as an analysis of prior molecular phylogeny studies, all of which were used to construct phylogenetic trees.[5] In their phylogeny, Tucker and Tenorio noted the close relationship of the cone species within the various clades, corresponding to their proposed families and genera; this also corresponded to the results of prior molecular studies by Puillandre et al. and others. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] This 2009 proposed classification system also outlined the taxonomy for the other clades of Conoidean gastropods (that do not resorb their inner walls), also based upon morphological, anatomical, and molecular studies, and removes the turrid snails (which are a distinct large and diverse group) from the cone snails, and creates a number of new families.[5] Tucker and Tenorio’s proposed classification system for the cone shells and their allies (and the other clades of Conoidean gastropods ) is shown in Tucker & Tenorio cone snail taxonomy 2009.

2011 taxonomy

In 2011 Bouchet et al. proposed a new classification in which several subfamilies have been raised to the rank of family:[13]

The classification by Bouchet et al. (2011)[13] based on mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA testing, and builds on the prior work by J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), but does not include fossil taxa.[5][13]

Molecular phylogeny, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to the mDNA testing (testing in the Conidae initially began by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn[14]) is continuing on the Conidae.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Proposed living cone snail genera

Recognized extant genera within the cone snails as per J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011), include:[5][13]

  • Africonus Petuch, 1975,
  • Asprella Schaufuss, 1869,
  • Austroconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Bathyconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Calamiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Calibanus da Motta, 1991,
  • Californiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Chelyconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Conasprella Thiele, 1929,*
  • Conasprelloides Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Conus Linnaeus, 1758,
  • Cornutoconus Suzuki, 1972: synonym of Taranteconus Azuma, 1972
  • Cylinder Montfort, 1810
  • Dalliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Darioconus Iredale, 1930,
  • Dauciconus Cotton, 1945,
  • Dendroconus Swainson, 1840,
  • Ductoconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Dyraspis Iredale, 1949,
  • Endemoconus Iredale, 1931,
  • Eremiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Eugeniconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Floraconus Iredale, 1930,
  • Fulgiconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Fusiconus da Motta, 1991,*
  • Gastridium Modeer, 1793,
  • Genuanoconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Gladioconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Globiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Gradiconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Harmoniconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Hermes Montfort, 1810,
  • Jaspidiconus Petuch, 2004,*
  • Kalloconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Kenyonia Brazier, 1896,
  • Ketyconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Kioconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Kohniconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Kurodaconus Shikama & Habe, 1968,
  • Lamniconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Lautoconus Monterosato, 1923,
  • Leporiconus Iredale, 1930,
  • Leptoconus Swainson, 1840,
  • Lilliconus Raybaudi Massilia, 1994,*
  • Lindaconus Petuch, 2002,
  • Lithoconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Lividoconus Wils, 1970,
  • Miliariconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Monteiroconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Nataliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Parviconus Cotton & Godfrey, 1932,*
  • Perplexiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Phasmoconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Pionoconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Plicaustraconus Moolenbeek, 2008,
  • Profundiconus Kuroda, 1956,*
  • Protoconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Protostrioconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Pseudoconorbis Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Pseudolilliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Pseudonoduloconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Puncticulis Swainson, 1840,
  • Purpuriconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Pyruconus Olsson, 1967,
  • Quasiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Rhizoconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Rhombiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Rolaniconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Sciteconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Seminoleconus Petuch, 2003,
  • Spuriconus Petuch, 2003,
  • Stellaconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Stephanoconus Mörch, 1852,
  • Strategoconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Taranteconus Azuma, 1972,
  • Textilia Swainson, 1840,
  • Trovaoconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,
  • Turriconus Shikama & Habe, 1968,
  • Varioconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Viminiconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009,*
  • Virgiconus Cotton, 1945,
  • Virroconus Iredale, 1930,
  • Vituliconus da Motta, 1991,
  • Ximeniconus Emerson & Old, 1962,*
  • Yeddoconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009.*

[An asterisk * indicates genera that are considered be within the family Conilithidae by Tucker & Tenorio 2009.]

Some experts are however still holding (in 2011) to the traditional classification system and place all species in a single family, Conidae, within the Linnean genus Conus, waiting for a more complete molecular phylogeny of the family to be published. The World Register of Marine Species places all species within the family Conidae in the genus Conus and the genera recognized by Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are considered to be "alternate representations." [22] Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continues, and additional molecular phylogeny studies are being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.[5][13][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]

Conidae genera (before 2011)

Following Taylor et al. in 1993, and prior to 2011 a large number of diverse genera were included within the family Conidae, however as a result of molecular phylogeny studies in 2011 many of these genera which were in the family Conidae (commonly known as turrids) have been moved back to the Turridae or placed in new families within the superfamily Conoidea. The following list of genera is maintained for historical reasons:

Cone snail venom characteristics and biotech

There are around 30 records of humans killed by a cone snail. Human victims suffer little pain, because the venom contains an analgesic component. Some species can kill a human in under 5 minutes, from where the name "cigarette snail" as one only has time to smoke a cigarette before dying. The molluscs can attack if provoked and can sting through a wetsuit with their harpoon, which resembles a transparent needle.[32]

Normally cone snails (and many species in the superfamily Conoidea) use the venom to immobilize prey. It consists of a mixture of peptides, called conopeptides. Their venom is made up of 10 to 30 amino acids, but occasionally as many as 60. The venom of each cone snail species may contain as many as 200 pharmacologically active components. It is estimated that more than 50,000 conopeptides can be found because every species of cone snail is thought to produce its own specific venom.

Cone snail venom, in more recent years, has come to interest biotechnologists and pharmacists because of its potential medicinal properties. Production of synthetic conopeptides has started, using solid-phase peptide synthesis.

W-conopeptide, from the species Conus magus was used in the analgesic drug Prialt, an approved treatment for pain said to be 1000 times as powerful as morphine. Conopeptides are also be looked at as anti-epileptic agents and to help stop nerve-cell death after a stroke or head injury. Conopeptides also have possibilities in helping spasms due to spinal cord injuries, and may be helpful in diagnosing and treating small cell carcinomas in the lung.

The biotechnology surrounding cone snails and their venom has promise for medical breakthroughs; with more than 50,000 conopeptides to study, the possibilities are numerous.[33]

References

  1. ^ Fleming J. (June 1822). The philosophy of zoology, a general view of the structure, functions and classification of animals 2. Constable & Co., Edinburgh, 618 pp., Conidae is on the page 490.
  2. ^ Piper R. (2007). Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
  3. ^ a b Taylor J. D., Kantor Y. I. & Sysoev A. V. (1993). "Foregut anatomy, feeding mechanisms, relationships and classification of Conoidea (Toxoglossa) (Gastropoda)". Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. (Zool.) 59: 125–169.
  4. ^ Bouchet P., Rocroi J.-P., Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology (Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks) 47 (1-2): 1–397. ISBN 3925919724. ISSN 0076-2997. http://www.archive.org/details/malacologia47122005inst. 
  5. ^ a b c d e Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp., at p. 133
  6. ^ a b P.K. Bandyopadhyay, B.J. Stevenson, J.P. Ownby, M.T. Cady, M. Watkins, & B. Olivera (2008), The mitochondrial genome of Conus textile, coxI-conII intergenic sequences and conoidean evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 215-223.
  7. ^ a b S.T. Williams & T.F. Duda, Jr. (2008), Did tectonic activity stimulate Oligo-Miocene speciation in the Indo-West Pacific? Evolution 62:1618-1634.
  8. ^ a b R.L. Cunha, R. Castilho, L. Ruber, & R. Zardoya (2005), Patterns of cladogenesis in the venomous marine gastropod genus Conus from the Cape Verde Islands Systematic Biology 54(4):634-650.
  9. ^ a b T.F. Duda, Jr. & A.J. Kohn (2005), Species-level phylogeography and evolutionary history of the hyperdiverse marine gastropod genus Conus, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:257-272.
  10. ^ a b T.F. Duda, Jr. & E. Rolan (2005), Explosive radiation of Cape Verde Conus, a marine species flock, Molecular Ecology 14:267-272.
  11. ^ a b B. Vallejo, Jr. (2005), Inferring the mode of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae), Journal of Biogeography 32:1429-1439.
  12. ^ a b N. Puillandre, S. Samadi, M. Boesselier, A. Sysoev, Y. Kantor, C. Cruaud, A. Couloux, & P. Bouchett (2008), Starting to unravel the toxoglossan knot: molecular phylogeny of the "turrid" (Neogastropoda: Conoidea), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47:1122-1134.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea". Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyr017.
  14. ^ Interview of Professor Alan Kohn, Professor Emeritus, Zoology http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/interviews/2009-kohn.html
  15. ^ Tucker, J. K. & Stahlschmidt, P. (2010) A second species of Pseudoconorbis (Gastropoda: Conoidea) from India. Miscellanea Malacologica 4(3):31-34.
  16. ^ Watkins, M., Corneli, P.S., Hillyard, D., & Olivera, B.M. (2010) Molecular phylogeny of Conus chiangi (Azuma, 1972) (Gastropods:Conidae). The Nautilus 124(3):129-136.
  17. ^ Tucker, J. K., Tenorio, M. J. & Stahlschmidt, P. (2011) The genus Benthofascis (Gastropoda: Conoidea): a revision with descriptions of new species. Zootaxa 2796:1-14.
  18. ^ Tucker, J. K. & Tenorio, M. J. (2011) New species of Gradiconus and Kohniconus from the western Atlantic (Gastropoda: Conoidea: Conidae, Conilithidae). Miscellanea Malacologica 5(1):1-16.
  19. ^ Petuch, E. J. & Sargent, D. M. (2011) New species of Conidae and Conilithidae (Gastropoda) from the tropical Americas and Philippines. With notes on some poorly-known Floridian species. Visaya 3(3):116-137.
  20. ^ Petuch & Drolshage (2011) Compendium of Florida Fossil Shells, Volume 1 MDM Publications, Wellington, FL., 432 pp.
  21. ^ C.M.L. Afonso & M.J. Tenorio (August 2011), A new, distinct endemic Africonus species (Gastropoda, Conidae) from Sao Vicente Island, Cape Verde Archipelago, West Africa, Gloria Maris 50(5): 124-135
  22. ^ http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=14107 Classification: Traditionally, all cone shells have been included in the Linnean genus Conus. Tucker & Tenorio (2009) have recently proposed an alternative shell- and radula-based classification that recognizes 4 families and 80 genera of cones. In WoRMS, we currently still recognize a single family Conidae (following Puillandre et al. 2011), but Tucker & Tenorio's 80 genera classification is presented as "alternative representation". [P. Bouchet, 14 Aug. 2011]
  23. ^ C.M.L. Afonso & M.J. Tenorio (August 2011), A new, distinct endemic Africonus species (Gastropoda, Conidae) from Sao Vicente Island, Cape Verde Archipelago, West Africa, Gloria Maris 50(5): 124-135
  24. ^ N. Puillandre, E. Strong, P. Bouchet, M. Boisselier, V. Couloux, & S. Samadi (2009), Identifying gastropod spawn from DNA barcodes: possible but not yet practicable, Molecular Ecology Resources 9:1311-1321.
  25. ^ Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.
  26. ^ P.K. Bandyopadhyay, B.J. Stevenson, J.P. Ownby, M.T. Cady, M. Watkins, & B. Olivera (2008), The mitochondrial genome of Conus textile, coxI-conII intergenic sequences and conoidean evolution. Mollecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 215-223.
  27. ^ S.T. Williams & T.F. Duda, Jr. (2008), Did tectonic activity stimulate Oligo-Miocene speciation in the Indo-West Pacific? Evolution 62:1618-1634.
  28. ^ R.L. Cunha, R. Castilho, L. Ruber, & R. Zardoya (2005), Patterns of cladogenesis in the venomous marine gastropod genus Conus from the Cape Verde Islands Systematic Biology 54(4):634-650.
  29. ^ T.F. Duda, Jr. & A.J. Kohn (2005), Species-level phylogeography and evolutionary history of the hyperdiverse marine gastropod genus Conus, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:257-272.
  30. ^ T.F. Duda, Jr. & E. Rolan (2005), Explosive radiation of Cape Verde Conus, a marine species flock, Molecular Ecology 14:267-272.
  31. ^ B. Vallejo, Jr. (2005), Inferring the mode of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae), Journal of Biogeography 32:1429-1439.
  32. ^ Nature 429, 798-799 (24 June 2004) ]]doi:10.1038/429798a]]
  33. ^ Becker S. & Terlau H. (2008). "Toxins from Cone Snails: Properties, Applications and Biotechnological Production." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 79(1): 1-9. doi:10.1007/s00253-008-1385-6.

Further reading

External links