Marbled Cone Snail Toxin

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.

Marbled cone snail toxin.

What do cone snails look like. Cone snails use a radula tooth as a harpoon like structure for predation. 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. Molecular model of cone snail toxin that blocks skeletal muscle sodium channels causing paralysis.

Some of the peptide toxins found in the venom have been characterized one of which is being developed as a potential drug for pain. But the marbled cone snail is often listed as one of the 10 most deadliest animals on the planet. Other toxins can block calcium channels and nicotinic acetylcholine channels in. The toxin from cone snails in the indo pacific region tends to be more harmful than other regions of the world.

The marbled cone snail is a molluscivore which means it feeds on other mollusks. Of the 500 species of poisonous cone snails just a few are venomous enough to kill you. This snail is venomous like all cone snails. The radula in most gastropods has rows of many small teeth and is used for grasping at food and scraping it into the mouth.

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. 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. The marbled cone snail is unusual among marine snails in that it is quite active during the day and not strictly nocturnal.

The geography cone is the deadliest with more than 100 toxins in its small six inch body. A 2004 report in the journal nature attributed about 30 human deaths to cone snails. This reputation is all caused by a deadly chemical these little snails can emit. The marbled cone snail has a harpoon like weapon that it uses on prey such as fish.

Just because human deaths are uncommon it doesn t mean you should throw away.