Conus Biodiversity Website

This web site is part of a National Science Foundation-sponsored project aimed at expanding knowledge of systematics of the unusually diverse marine gastropod genus Conus. The project goals are to integrate species-level revisionary systematics of the major regional faunas, contribute to molecular-based phylogenetic hypotheses, expand predictive classifications, and promulgate the results in both electronic and print media. Because a taxonomic catalogue is a sine qua non for research in systematics, we initiate this web site with a searchable database comprising a catalogue of all available species-level names proposed in Conus (see Catalogue). When complete, the site will include entries for each valid species, with taxonomic histories, descriptions, morphometrics, range maps, and photographs of type specimens, shells and living animals to illustrate variability in form and color patterns. It will incorporate data from prior and new character sets, including shell and radular tooth morphometry, ecological and developmental attributes, and gene sequences.