MANUAL OF CONCHOLOGY 



FAMILY 



Teeth subulate, in two series, on a tubular prolongation of the 

 retractile proboscis, and with a bundle of sharp subulate teeth 

 at the extremity ; head with a produced tubular veil ; tentacles 

 subulate ; eyes on bulgings of the outer side of the tentacles ; 

 mantle enclosed, with an elongated siphon in front ; foot simple, 

 long and narrow, with a conspicuous aquiferous pore on the 

 middle of the anterior part of the sole. 



Operculum unguiform, with apical nucleus. 



Shell inversely conical, with narrow aperture the length of the 

 body-whorl, the lip sharp, usually excavated at the hind-part, 

 where it joins the suture; epidermis thin and smooth or longi- 

 tudinally or spirally ridged, sometimes tufted. 



The great family of Cones, well-characterized by peculiarities 

 both of dentition and shell, are principally inhabitants of equa- 

 torial seas. Haunting the holes and fissures of rocks, and the 

 labyrinths of coral-reefs, they lead a predatory life, boring into 

 the shells of other mollusks, and sucking the juices from their 

 bodies. 



Until recently the classification of Conidae given by Messrs. 

 H. and A. Adams in their Genera of Recent Mollusca has been 

 generally adopted. This classification is given in Structural and 

 Systematic Conchology, ii, p. 187, and need not be reproduced 

 here. The genera and subgenera are extremely artificial and 

 insufficient for the purpose of arranging a large collection, inas- 

 much as many of the systematic characters fail to discriminate 

 groups when extensive series are compared. Dr. Weinkauff has 

 recently (Jahrb. Deutsch. Mai. Gesell., i, 1874) arranged the 

 Cones into sections, each named for a characteristic species, 



