Diversity of Conidae (Caenogastropoda: Conoidea) from the Kerala Coast, India

ABSTRACT

The Conidae are predatory marine gastropods and they produce one of the most potent venoms in nature. They are ecologically vital for regulating trophic positions and act as primary carnivores in oceans. Amateur shell collectors target some species and ecosystems are intensively exploited by collectors of ornamental shells and commercial traders. Moreover, increasing coastal development, habitat modification and fragmentation, and overexploitation of resources threaten cone snail diversity. This study documents 46 species of Conidae from the Kerala coast, India. Fifteen species are newly recorded from the coast, and one species is reported for the first time from the Indian coast. We also revalidate Conus ceylanensis and Conus bizona.

KEYWORDS:

• Conus
• Conasprella
• Profundiconus
• trade
• bycatch
• new records

Acknowledgements

The first author thanks the Post-Doctoral Fellowship offered by the University of Kerala and Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund for a grant (Project Number 172517389) to support this study. Constructive comments on the manuscript by the two anonymous reviewers are much appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors .