The Mournful Cone Snail
(Conus Lugubris)Item No. 20
“While we may have more coastal development, we have fewer, beautiful, stinging, mournful things.”Chances are you have never touched a Conus Lugubris. It is (or shall we say…was) a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Conidae. If that is the case, that is, that you have never touched one, it's a good thing, as apparently, Conus lugubris is (or shall we say, was) poisonous.
That is, it is/was capable of stinging humans.
According to one source, a Conus lugubris should not be handled at all, due to their “predatory, venomous, and stinging” nature. Another source described their harpoon-like tooth, which might inject neurotoxins to “immobilize prey.” A harpoon-like tooth used to immobilize prey seems like something very few of us might want to touch with our fingers.
Another reason why you may not have touched one, in addition to their poisonous nature, is that you may not have visited their natural habitat, which is/was the north coast of São Vicente in Cape Verde.
But the most important reason of all, which you may never have touched, in addition to their stinging nature and their preferred location off the north coast of São Vicente in Cape Verde, which you may not have visited, is that apparently they were last seen alive in 1987!
So, yes, were you to search for the Conus lugubris, you would find that it is now considered to be, in fact, extinct.
So, we list it, the Conus lugubris, in shorthand, C. lugubris, here in The Last Catalog. While some of the things we list seem to be slowly disappearing, this one in fact, seems to have simply already disappeared.
By the way, we prefer to call it (as it is apparently often referred to it as this anyway) the “mournful cone snail.” which apparently is due to “the dark, somber appearance of its shell.” The scientific name, lugubris, really says this anyway, as it is Latin for mournful, sad, doleful, dismal, grievous—"belonging to mourning.”
So we say farewell, to the Mournful Cone Snail.
What is the cost of this loss to us? While our fingers may feel safe, the subtropical waters probably miss these predatory marine gastropod mollusks. They used to be found lurking around coral reefs, mangroves, or sandy banks. But it's not just the subtropical waters that probably miss their sad, doleful, mournful ways; they were known for their intricate, beautiful shell patterns, too.
So the collectors; miss them too.
The sand where they often hid probably also misses them. They left a sad, doleful, grievous place, in that pocket of sand near where they lurked around the coral reefs.
Specifications:
While we may have more coastal development, we have fewer, beautiful, stinging, mournful things.