Cone snails

Intricately patterned and brightly coloured shells give the cone snails an attractive appearance. But beneath all the glamour they are predatory and venomous sea snails. What makes these quite beautiful snails so dangerous to fish, worms or molluscs is their fusion of different neurotoxins, a mix that is unique to each species. This deadly cocktail is delivered by a harpoon-like strike from a modified tooth that is propelled out of the extended proboscis. Once the prey has been immobilised it is swallowed whole. Cone snails have a remarkable ability to rapidly modify their venom for different prey: some of which are of great interest to the biomedical industry. There are over 600 species of cone snail and most of them are found among coral reefs in tropical coastal regions.

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