# Jaspidiconus

Jaspidiconus is a subgenus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the genus Conasprella, family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
In the new classification of the family Conidae by Puillandre N., Duda T.F., Meyer C., Olivera B.M. & Bouchet P. (2015), Jaspidiconus has become a subgenus of Conasprella: Conasprella (Ximeniconus) Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 represented as Conasprella Thiele, 1929

## Distinguishing characteristics

The Tucker & Tenorio 2009 taxonomy distinguishes Jaspidiconus from Conus in the following ways:
* Genus Conus sensu stricto Linnaeus, 1758
       Shell characters (living and fossil species)
          The basic shell shape is conical to elongated conical, has a deep anal notch on the shoulder, a smooth periostracum and a small operculum. The shoulder of the shell is usually nodulose and the protoconch is usually multispiral. Markings often include the presence of tents except for black or white color variants, with the absence of spiral lines of minute tents and textile bars.
       Radular tooth (not known for fossil species)
          The radula has an elongated anterior section with serrations and a large exposed terminating cusp, a non-obvious waist, blade is either small or absent and has a short barb, and lacks a basal spur.
       Geographical distribution
          These species are found in the Indo-Pacific region.
       Feeding habits
          These species eat other gastropods including cones.
* Subgenus Jaspidiconus Petuch, 2003
       Shell characters (living and fossil species)
          The shell is turbinate in shape. The protoconch is paucispiral with 1.5 whorls. The anal notch is deep, and the anterior notch is absent. The early whorls are not nodulose but may be ornamented by an undulating carina. Later whorls may be ornamented with nodules. Cords are absent on the whorls. The periostracum is smooth, and the operculum is small.
       Radular tooth (not known for fossil species)
          The anterior sections of the radular tooth is shorter than the posterior section, and the blade is short. A posterior fold is present, and the posterior blade is absent. A basal spur is present, and the barb is short. A shaft fold is present and is blunt at its anterior end.
       Geographical distribution
          These species are found in the West Atlantic region.
       Feeding habits
          These species are vermivorous, meaning that they prey on polychaete worms.

## Species

This list of species is based on the information in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) list. Species within the subgenus Jaspidiconus include:
* Jaspidiconus acutimarginatus (G. B. Sowerby II, 1866): synonym of Jaspidiconus jaspideus f. acutimarginatus (G. B. Sowerby II, 1866): synonym of Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791
* Jaspidiconus alexandremonteiroi Cossignani, 2014: synonym of Conasprella alexandremonteiroi (Cossignani, 2014) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus allamandi Petuch, 2013: synonym of Conasprella allamandi (Petuch, 2013) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus anaglypticus (Crosse, 1865): synonym of Conus anaglypticus Crosse, 1865
* Jaspidiconus arawak Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus arawak (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus berschaueri Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus berschaueri (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus branhamae (Clench, 1953): synonym of Conus branhamae Clench, 1953
* Jaspidiconus damasoi (Cossignani, 2007): synonym of Conus damasoi Cossignani, 2007
* Jaspidiconus damasomonteiroi Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus damasomonteiroi (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus ericmonnieri Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus ericmonnieri (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus exumaensis Petuch, 2013: synonym of Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791
* Jaspidiconus fluviamaris Petuch & Sargent, 2011: synonym of Conus fluviamaris (Petuch & Sargent, 2011) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus henckesi (Coltro, 2004): synonym of Conus henckesi Coltro, 2004
* Jaspidiconus herndli Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus herndli (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus iansa (Petuch, 1979): synonym of Conasprella iansa Petuch, 1979
* Jaspidiconus jaspideus (Gmelin, 1791): synonym of Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791
* Jaspidiconus mackintoshi Petuch, 2013: synonym of Conus mindanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
* Jaspidiconus marinae Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus marinae (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus mindanus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792): synonym of Conus mindanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
* Jaspidiconus ogum Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus ogum (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus oleiniki Petuch, 2013: synonym of Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791
* Jaspidiconus pealii (Green, 1840): synonym of Jaspidiconus jaspideus pealii (Green, 1830) represented as Conus jaspideus pealii Green, 1830
* Jaspidiconus pfluegeri Petuch, 2003: synonym of Jaspidiconus jaspideus pfluegeri Petuch, 2003 represented as Conus jaspideus pfluegeri Petuch, 2003
* Jaspidiconus pomponeti Petuch & Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus pomponeti (Petuch & Myers, 2014) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus poremskii Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus poremskii (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus pusio (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792): synonym of Conus pusio Hwass in Bruguière, 1792
* Jaspidiconus rachelae (Petuch, 1988): synonym of Conus rachelae Petuch, 1988
* Jaspidiconus roatanensis Petuch & Sargent, 2011: synonym of Conus roatanensis (Petuch & Sargent, 2011) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus sargenti Petuch, 2013: synonym of Conus sargenti (Petuch, 2013) (alternate representation)
* Jaspidiconus simonei Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014: synonym of Conus simonei (Petuch & R. F. Myers, 2014) (alternate representation, original combination)
* Jaspidiconus stearnsii (Conrad, 1869): synonym of Conus stearnsii Conrad, 1869
* Jaspidiconus vanhyningi (Rehder, 1944): synonym of Conus vanhyningi Rehder, 1944 (alternate representation)

## Significance of "alternative representation"

Prior to 2009, all cone species were placed within the family Conidae and were placed in one genus, Conus. In 2009 however, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the over 600 recognized species that were in the family. Their classification proposed 3 distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of cone snails, including the family Conilithidae. This classification was based upon shell morphology, radular differences, anatomy, physiology, cladistics, with comparisons to molecular (DNA) studies. Published accounts of genera within the Conidae (or Conilithidae) that include the genus Jaspidiconus include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011).
Testing in order to try to understand the molecular phylogeny of the Conidae was initially begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn, and is continuing, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing.
However, in 2011, some experts still prefer to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in Conus within the single family Conidae: for example, according to the current November 2011 version of the World Register of Marine Species, all species within the family Conidae are in the genus Conus. The binomial names of species in the 82 cone snail genera listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 are recognized by the World Register of Marine Species as "alternative representations." Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continues, and additional molecular phylogeny studies are being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.
All this has been superseded in 2015 by the new classification of the Conidae