C. californicus: a Divergent Taxon

What makes Californiconus californicus so special?

Behavior and Habitat

In contrast to the diversity of the Conus genus, its sister taxon, the genus Californiconus, houses only one species: C. californicus. C. californicus is different from cone shells of the Conus genus in terms of their habitat, their social behavior, and their feeding preferences.

While members of the Conus genus are found in warm, temperate waters throughout the Pacific Ocean, C. californicus is the only cone shell found in the slightly cooler waters off the southwestern coast of California (Biggs et. al 2010).

Furthermore, most Conus cone shells display solitary hunting habits, and generally eat some combination of worms, other gastropods, or fish. If they capture prey too big to eat, they abandon it. Contrast this to C. californicus, who has been shown to hunt in pack-like groups and to have a slightly expanded diet– in addition to fish, worms, and gastropods, C. californicus has been observed eating crustaceans and scavenging on dead animals (Phuong et. al 2016).

Venom Composition

Another difference between the two genera concerns their venom.

Molecular analysis of cone shell venom has shown that C. californicus and the Conus genus share only about 50% of conotoxin gene superfamilies (Phuong et. al 2016). In fact, C. californicus displayed a unique gene superfamily, and it lacked two of the most pharmacologically relevant gene superfamilies found in the Conus genus (Biggs et. al 2010).

Moreover, of cone snails studied in one experiment, C. californicus had lower venom expression compared to members of the Conus genus (Phuong et. al 2016). C. californicus’ pack behavior and its lesser venom expression might be connected– one group of researchers hypothesized that group attacks result in more efficient venom use.