Conasprella ione, common name the ione cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.Bouchet, P. (2015). Conasprella ione (Fulton, 1938). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=835341 on 2015-03-13
Like all species within the genus Conasprella, these cone snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of stinging humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.
Description
The size of the shell varies between 40 mm and 76 mm. Distribution This marine species occurs off Mozambique, Réunion, the Loyalty Islands, the Philippines, in the South China Sea; off Taiwan, Japan, New Caledonia and Western Australia.
References
Fulton, H.C. 1938. Descriptions and figures of new Japanese marine shells. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 23(1): 55–56, pl. 3 Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. Röckel, D., Korn, W. & Kohn, A.J. 1995. Manual of the Living Conidae. Volume 1: Indo-Pacific Region. Wiesbaden : Hemmen 517 pp. 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
The Conus Biodiversity website Cone Shells – Knights of the Sea
Specimen in MNHN, Paris