Cone Snail

Cone snails, cone shells, or "cones", are common names for a taxonomic family of sea snails known scientifically as the Conidae, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. The family Conidae is currently dominated by one genus, Conus, which has about 500 living species. The shells of most of the sea snails in this family are shaped more or less like the geometric shape known as a cone, as one might expect from the popular and scientific name. Cone snails are medium-sized to large, sophisticated predatory animals. These snails hunt and immobilize prey using a modified radular tooth along with a poison gland containing neurotoxins, this is launched out of its mouth in a harpoon-like action. Live cone snails should be handled with care or not handled at all, as they are capable of "stinging" humans with unpleasant results. The sting of small cones is no worse than a bee sting, but the sting of a few of the larger species of tropical cone snails can be serious, and has even occasionally been fatal to human beings.... Mehr