Marbled Cone Snail Deaths

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.

Marbled cone snail deaths.

The geography cone is the deadliest with more than 100 toxins in its small six inch body. The marbled cone snail is found very rarely and is counted in the list of the top 10 world s most poisonous animals. But the marbled cone snail is often listed as one of the 10 most deadliest animals on the planet. Are cone snails dangerous.

The conus marmoreus commonly referred to as the marbled cone snail is a species of predatory sea snail from the conidae family. At the end of the proboscis they have a hollow tooth through which the venom is injected. A few microliters of cone snail toxin is powerful enough to kill 10 people. The marbled cone snail can be found in various colors ranging from black with white dots to orange with white patterns.

In order to get its prey the cone snail injects a rapid acting venom from a dart like tooth radicula or dagger. The radula in most gastropods has rows of many small teeth and is used for grasping at food and scraping it into the mouth. Once the poison enters your system you may not feel symptoms for a few minutes or days. Cone snail shells range in size from less than an inch to 9 inches long.

To date about 30 human deaths. A few varieties of cone snails eat fish and these are the most harmful to humans. Cone snails use a radula tooth as a harpoon like structure for predation. It can be found in warm salty water.

Cone snails mainly hunt worms and other snails. 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. 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 cone snail has a proboscis that hangs out like a lure to attract fish which are then harpooned.

It s pretty rare that humans encounter a dangerous situation with this deadly snail but it can happen. Just because human deaths are uncommon it doesn t mean you should throw away caution. 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. This reputation is all caused by a deadly chemical these little snails can emit.

Its venom can cause severe pain inflammation numbness breathing problems and even muscle paralysis. A single drop of its venom can kill 20 adult humans. The geographic cone is the most venomous of the 500 known cone snail species and several human deaths have been attributed to them. There are over 500 different species of marbled cone snails.