Conus laterculatus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
Like all species with the superfamily Conoidea, these 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 an adult shell varies between 33 mm and 64 mm.
The shell is distantly channeled throughout, the interstices usually plane, sometimes minutely granular. The channels are narrow, longitudinally striated. The spire is much elevated, acuminated, striate, sometimes obscurely minutely coronated. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, with light chestnut longitudinal short irregular lines, and clouds of the same color forming three obscure interrupted bands.George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 73; 1879 (He considered C. laterculus a juvenile of Conus australis (Chemn.) )
Distribution This marine species is found off the Philippines, Borneo and Vietnam.
References
Sowerby, G.B. Jr. (1870). Descriptions of Forty-eight new Species of Shells. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1870): 249–259 Filmer R.M. (2001). A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy in the Living Conidae 1758 – 1998. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 388pp Tucker J.K. (2009). Recent cone species database. September 4, 2009 Edition Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 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