Conus spurius atlanticus (alphabet cone snail shell) (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA) 1 (49766366143)

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: Conus spurius atlanticus Clench, 1942 - fragmentary alphabet cone snail shell, modern (latest Holocene). The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores. The conid gastropods (cone shells) are fascinating marine snails for a couple reasons - they have attractively-shaped, colorful shells and they are killers. The conids are predatory, as are many other marine snails, but they take down their prey in an unusual fashion. The radula of most snails is a mineralized or heavily sclerotized mass of small teeth that scrapes across a substrate during feeding. Conid snails have a toxoglossate radula - one that has been evolutionarily modified into tiny, unattached, toxin-bearing, harpoon-like darts that can be fired at prey. Each dart is an individual tooth. The nickname "killer snails" is well deserved (even people have been killed). Some species have incredibly powerful toxins, while in other species the toxin has little effect on humans. This fragmentary and beachworn alphabet cone snail shell is covered in tiny borings (click on the photo once or twice to zoom in). Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neogastropoda, Conoidea, Conidae Locality: Lighthouse Point beach, southern shore of the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, Gulf of Mexico coast of southern Florida, USA More info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conus. Date: 12 April 2020, 02:36. Source: Conus spurius atlanticus (alphabet cone snail shell) (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA) 1. Author: James St. John.