Conus textile | |
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A live individual of Conus textile, head end towards the right | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Neogastropoda |
Superfamily: | Conoidea |
Family: | Conidae |
Genus: | Conus |
Species: | C. textile
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Binomial name | |
Conus textile | |
Synonyms[2] | |
See "List of synonyms" |
Conus textile, the textile cone or the cloth of gold cone[3] is a venomous species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. Textile cone snails live mostly in the Indian Ocean, along the eastern coast of Africa and around Australia.[4]
Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all. Based on a report in 2004, about 30 human deaths have been attributed to cone snails.[5] In 2021, a Queensland teen nearly died after picking up a live textile cone.[6]