Marbled Cone Snail Toxin

This snail is venomous like all cone snails.

Marbled cone snail toxin. Cone snails use a radula tooth as a harpoon like structure for predation. If you measure by the ld50 the marbled cone snail is actually the most venomous animal on the planet since as little as 0 001 0 003 mg per kilogram of body weight is needed to kill half of the ones exposed to its toxins. Just because human deaths are uncommon it doesn t mean you should throw away. Of the 500 species of poisonous cone snails just a few are venomous enough to kill you.

Interestingly enough this venom is the same neurotoxin that is produced by the deadly blue ringed octopus which generally causes loss of coordination intense pain. This reputation is all caused by a deadly chemical these little snails can emit. To capture and handle its prey it has adapted a very toxic venom. The deadliest cone snail is thought to be the cigarette snail of the indo pacific a snail roughly the length of a man s thumb that can deliver a toxin so strong that you d only have time to finish one cigarette before dying from its attack.

Other toxins can block calcium channels and nicotinic acetylcholine channels in. But the marbled cone snail is often listed as one of the 10 most deadliest animals on the planet. The marbled cone snail is a molluscivore which means it feeds on other mollusks. A 2004 report in the journal nature attributed about 30 human deaths to cone snails.

To gain insight on some adaptations the marbled cone snail has undergone click here. To learn more about where the marbled cone snail is found and its general habitat click here. Some of the peptide toxins found in the venom have been characterized one of which is being developed as a potential drug for pain. Molecular model of cone snail toxin that blocks skeletal muscle sodium channels causing paralysis.

The marbled cone snail has a harpoon like weapon that it uses on prey such as fish. The geography cone is the deadliest with more than 100 toxins in its small six inch body. The marbled cone snail is unusual among marine snails in that it is quite active during the day and not strictly nocturnal. 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.

What do cone snails look like.