Conus magus

Conus magus
Dorsal (left) and ventral (right) views of a shell of Conus magus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Conidae
Subfamily: Coninae
Genus: Conus
Species: C. magus
Binomial name
Conus magus
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms[1]
  • Pionoconus assimilis A. Adams, 1855
  • Pionoconus boivini Kiener, L.C., 1845
  • Pionoconus carinatus Swainson, 1822
  • Pionoconus cernohorskyi da Motta, 1983
  • Pionoconus circae G. B. Sowerby II, 1858
  • Pionoconus consul Boivin, 1864
  • Pionoconus epistomioides Weinkauff, 1875
  • Pionoconus epistomium Reeve, 1844
  • Pionoconus frauenfeldi Crosse, 1865
  • Pionoconus fucatus Reeve, 1849
  • Pionoconus fulvobullatus da Motta, 1982
  • Pionoconus raphanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
  • Pionoconus rollandi Bernardi, 1860
  • Pionoconus signifer Crosse, 1865
  • Pionoconus ustulatus Reeve, 1844
  • Pionoconus worcesteri Brazier, 1891
  • Pionoconus consul Boivin, A., 1864
  • Pionoconus magus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Pionoconus magus fulvobullatus (f) Motta, A.J. da, 1982
  • Pionoconus metcalfii Reeve, L.A., 1843

Conus magus, common name the magical cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.[1]

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. Their venom contains conotoxins which have powerful neurotoxic effects. Given that they are capable of "stinging" humans, live cone shells should be handled with great care or preferably not at all.

Description

Conus magus (syn.:Conus fulvobullatus) shows the variability in pattern and color of this species

The size of an adult shell varies between 16 mm and 94 mm. This common species is very variable in pattern and shade of coloring and embraces a large synonymy. The moderate spire is striate. The body whorl is long and rather cylindrical, closely striate below. The color of the shell is white, clouded with bluish ash, orange-brown, chestnut or chocolate, everywhere encircled by narrow chocolate interrupted lines, often separated into somewhat distant dots The middle of the body whorl is usually irregularly fasciate with white. The spire is tessellated with chestnut or chocolate.[2]

Venom use

Ziconotide is a chemical derived from the Conus magus toxin that acts as a painkiller with a potency 1000 times that of morphine. Discovered by Dr. Baldomero Olivera at University of Utah, it was developed for treatment of chronic and intractable pain caused by AIDS, cancer, neurological disorders and other maladies, and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2004 under the name Prialt.

Ziconotide works by blocking sodium channels in pain-transmitting nerve cells, rendering them unable to transmit pain signals to the brain. It is administered through injection into the spinal fluid.[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Madagascar and the Mascarene Basin. It is also found over a wide area of the Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to Japan and to the Marshall Islands, Wallis and Futuna and Fiji, but mainly centered on the Philippines.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Conus magus Linnaeus, 1758.  Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 18 July 2011.
  2. ↑ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 53; 1879
  3. ↑ http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/2005/03_01_2005/story03.htm

Gallery

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conus magus.