Coninae

Coninae
A live individual of the geography cone, Gastridium geographus, anterior end towards the left
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Subfamily: Coninae
Fleming, 1822[1]
Genera

See text

Coninae, common names the cone snails, cone shells or cones is a subfamily of small to quite large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.

These are sophisticated predatory animals.[2] They hunt and immobilize prey using a modified radular tooth along with a poison gland containing neurotoxins; the tooth is launched out of the snail's mouth in a harpoon-like action. The traditional taxonomy places all of the cone snails in the Conidae. A newer proposed taxonomy redefines Coninae.

Contents

2009 proposed taxonomy

J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio's 2009 proposed classification system for the cone snails redefines Coninae. Their list of genera in the subfamily Coninae include the following genera:[3]

  • Calibanus da Motta, 1991
  • Chelyconus Mörch, 1852
  • Conus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cylinder Montfort, 1810
  • Darioconus Iredale, 1930
  • Endemoconus Iredale, 1931
  • Eugeniconus da Motta, 1991
  • Gastridium Modeer, 1793
  • Leptoconus Swainson, 1840
  • Nataliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009
  • Phasmoconus Mörch, 1852
  • Pionoconus Mörch, 1852
  • Protostrioconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009
  • Pseudolilliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009
  • Textilia Swainson, 1840

These genera are recognized by World Register of Marine Species as an "alternative representation", as currently (2011) many taxonomists still prefer to use the traditional classification, such that all species within this subfamily are in the Linnaean genus Conus.

Significance of "alternative representation"

Prior to 2009, all species within the family Conidae were placed in one genus Conus. In 2009 however, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the over 600 recognized species that were in the family. Their classification proposed 3 distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of cone snails. This classification was based upon shell morphology, radular differences, anatomy, physiology, cladistics, with comparisons to molecular (DNA) studies.[4] Published accounts of genera within the Conidae that include the various genera include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011).[5]

Testing in order to try to understand the molecular phylogeny of the Conidae was initially begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn[6], and is continuing, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing.

However, in 2011, some experts still prefer to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in Conus within the single family Conidae: for example, according to the current November 2011 version of the World Register of Marine Species, all species within the family Conidae are in the genus Conus. The binomial names of species in the 82 cone snail genera listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are recognized by the World Register of Marine Species as "alternative representations." [7] 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.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

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, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
  3. ^ Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.
  4. ^ Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.
  5. ^ Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea". Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308.
  6. ^ Interview of Professor Alan Kohn, Professor Emeritus, Zoology http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/interviews/2009-kohn.html
  7. ^ http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=14107 Classification: Traditionally, all cone shells have been included in the Linnaean 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]
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ P. Bouchet, Yu I. Kantor, A. Sysoev, and N. Puillandre (March 2011), A New Operational Classification of the Conoidea, Journal of Molluscan Studies 77:273-308, at p. 275.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009), Systematic Classification of Recent and Fossil Conoidean Gastropods, ConchBooks, Hankenheim, Germany, 295 pp.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ S.T. Williams & T.F. Duda, Jr. (2008), Did tectonic activity stimulate Oligo-Miocene speciation in the Indo-West Pacific? Evolution 62:1618-1634.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ T.F. Duda, Jr. & E. Rolan (2005), Explosive radiation of Cape Verde Conus, a marine species flock, Molecular Ecology 14:267-272.
  17. ^ B. Vallejo, Jr. (2005), Inferring the mode of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae), Journal of Biogeography 32:1429-1439.

External links