I have kept 2 specimens of Conus californicus alive in my cold water
aquarium for over a year. They seem perfectly happy feeding on detritus.
I've seen them munching away on bits of rock scallop (Crassadoma gigantea)
left from fish feeding.

Paul Kanner

----- Original Message -----
From: "Manuel J. Tenorio" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 8:28 AM
Subject: Re: Why are radulae sometimes so useful, yet other times almost
useless for t...


> Dear Kay and Conch-Lers
>
> Conus californicus has an unique radular morphology. The most striking
> characteristic is that it that the tooth shows five barbs. No other
> species
> of conidae has so many barbs. The term "specialised" is used because the
> morphology of the radular tooth adapts to the specific prey of the conus
> (i.e. the particular species of worm if vermivorous, or mollusc if
> molluscivorous). Little is known about the specific dietary habits of each
> particular species. This means that it is difficult to establish which
> species of worm, mollusc or even fish constitutes the main diet for each
> conus species. It is also possible that determined species of conidae have
> a "generalistic" diet, and therefore, they have a multifunction radular
> tooth which might be used against a variety of preys. It is unclear to me
> if the radular tooth of californicus has this unique design because is
> very
> specialised or because it is rather generalistic. Certainly, the tooth
> does
> not possibly allow preying on fish because of the small size and design,
> but it is valid for a variety of worms and maybe certain molluscs.
> Best wishes
>
> Manuel Jimenez Tenorio
> On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:32:21 EDT, Kay Peterson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>Would someone please comment further on the "specialised" radula of Conus
>>californicus?
>>
>>Thank you.
>>
>>Kay
>>
>
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