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Cone snails, or cones, are highly venomous sea snails of the family Conidae.[1]
Fossils of cone snails have been found from the Eocene to the Holocene epochs.[2] Cone snail species have shells that are roughly conical in shape. Many species have colorful patterning on the shell surface.[3] Cone snails are almost exclusively tropical in distribution.
All cone snails are venomous and capable of stinging. Cone snails use a modified radula tooth and a venom gland to attack and paralyze their prey before engulfing it. The tooth, which is likened to a dart or a harpoon, is barbed and can be extended some distance out from the head of the snail at the end of the proboscis.
Cone snail venoms are mainly peptide-based, and contain many different toxins that vary in their effects. The sting of several larger species of cone snails can be serious, and even fatal to humans. Cone snail venom also shows promise for medical use.[4][5]
- ^ Puillandre N, Duda TF, Meyer C, Olivera BM, Bouchet P (February 2015). "One, four or 100 genera? A new classification of the cone snails". The Journal of Molluscan Studies. 81 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyu055. PMC 4541476. PMID 26300576.
- ^ Pek I, Vašíček Z, Roček Z, Hajn V, Mikuláš R (1996). Základy Zoopaleontologie [Basics of Zoopaleontology] (in Czech). Olomouc. p. 264. ISBN 80-7067-599-3.
- ^ Hendricks JR (2015). "Glowing seashells: diversity of fossilized coloration patterns on coral reef-associated cone snail (Gastropoda: Conidae) shells from the Neogene of the Dominican Republic". PLOS ONE. 10 (4): e0120924. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1020924H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120924. PMC 4382297. PMID 25830769.
- ^ Olivera BM, Teichert RW (October 2007). "Diversity of the neurotoxic Conus peptides: a model for concerted pharmacological discovery". Molecular Interventions. 7 (5): 251–60. doi:10.1124/mi.7.5.7. PMID 17932414.
- ^ Van Oosten R (September 2008). "Nature's brew". Quest online. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.