Marbled Cone Snail Deaths

This reputation is all caused by a deadly chemical these little snails can emit.

Marbled cone snail deaths. The marbled cone snail can be found in various colors ranging from black with white dots to orange with white patterns. Are cone snails dangerous. The geography cone is the deadliest with more than 100 toxins in its small six inch body. Their venom a complex concoction of hundreds of different.

Each of these harpoons is a modified tooth primarily made of chitin and formed inside the mouth of the snail in a structure known as the toxoglossan radula. Just because human deaths are uncommon it doesn t mean you should throw away caution. At the end of the proboscis they have a hollow tooth through which the venom is injected. It s pretty rare that humans encounter a dangerous situation with this deadly snail but it can happen.

Endemic to the indian ocean and western pacific the marbled cone snail is an extremely venomous species with the capacity to kill humans and animals with a single sting of its tail. But the marbled cone snail is often listed as one of the 10 most deadliest animals on the planet. The conus marmoreus commonly referred to as the marbled cone snail is a species of predatory sea snail from the conidae family. The marbled cone snail is found very rarely and is counted in the list of the top 10 world s most poisonous animals.

Its venom can cause severe pain inflammation numbness breathing problems and even muscle paralysis. The geographic cone is the most venomous of the 500 known cone snail species and several human deaths have been attributed to them. In order to get its prey the cone snail injects a rapid acting venom from a dart like tooth radicula or dagger. It is also known as cigarette snail which means that most of the time a person stung by a cone snail has only time to smoke a cigarette before dying.

The radula in most gastropods has rows of many small teeth and is used for grasping at food and scraping it into the mouth. Cone snails use a radula tooth as a harpoon like structure for predation. There are over 500 different species of marbled cone snails. To date about 30 human deaths.

The cone snail has a proboscis that hangs out like a lure to attract fish which are then harpooned. Another interesting fact about the marbled cone snail is the fact that its venom is 10 000 times more potent than today s morphine as an anesthetic. A few microliters of cone snail toxin is powerful enough to kill 10 people. It can be found in warm salty water.

Once the poison enters your system you may not feel symptoms for a few minutes or days. A single drop of its venom can kill 20 adult humans. Cone snails mainly hunt worms and other snails. The marbled cone snail has a harpoon like weapon that it uses on prey such as fish.