Facts About Marbled Cone Snail

Marbled cone snails are marine gastropod mollusks, about medium to large in size, usually as big as a normal sized hand. Their intricately patterned shells are roughly shaped like an ice-cream cone and are highly prized by shell collectors. Living in the ridges of Pacific and Indian Ocean, it has a shell over its body. The marbled cone snail can be found in various colors, ranging from black with white dots to orange with white patterns. 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. There are over 500 different species of marbled cone snails. These snails are venomous enough that a single drop kills more than 20 people and its mouth has a proboscis hidden in it which spreads like a harpoon when the pray is reachable. Read through the following lines to know some more interesting facts and amazing information on this creature.

Facts About Marbled Cone Snail

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Superfamily: Conoidea

Family: Conidae

Genus: Conus

Species: C. marmoreus

Group Name: Pack

Length: 6 inches

Weight: 7.47 g

Diet: Marine worms, small fish, mollusks and other cone snails.

Habitat: Warm and tropical seas and oceans up to 90 m deep.

Interesting & Amazing Information On Marbled Cone Snails

A drop of marbled cone snail’s venom is so powerful that it can kill more than 20 people.
The venom is so dangerous that it can cause intense pain, tingling, numbness and swelling. It can affect a person’s hearing, vision and speech.
Marbled cone snail is included in the list of top 10 most dangerous animals in the world.
The size of the marbled cone snail is six inches in length and 7.47 grams in weight.
The snail traps its prey in a very unique way. It shoots out a toxic harpoon and reels in its prey—a passing fish, whenever it locates the same. The venom paralyzes its victim, which allows the snail to feast at its leisure.
A marbled cone snail can fire its harpoons in any direction, even backwards.
The snail also has a siphon, a tube which it uses to detect its prey and to inhale the water.
The radular teeth of this snail are comparatively shorter than those of other species and vermivores, which hunt marine worms.
The proboscis which is hidden in their mouths extends twice the size of the snail.
These snails are found around reefs, where there is plenty of fish and other snails to feed on. They are spread over Australia, Caribbean, Pacific, Red Sea, and along the coast of Florida.
In Hawaii, the shells of marbled cone snails were traditionally collected from the beach drift and used as beads to make puka shell jewelry.
This snail’s adult shell has a size of 30mm to 150 mm though it varies. The colour of the shell varies from black to white dots.
About 30 human deaths have been attributed to cone snail venom all over the world, till date. This happens when respiratory muscle paralysis leads to death.
Anti-venom for the venom of this marbled cone snail is yet to be discovered.
Studies have found out that the venom in these snails possess medical qualities that makes in valuable in medical research.
The venom of marbled cone snail is the same as that of blue-ring octopus which is powerful neurotoxin which leads to weakness and loss of co-ordination.
The diet of marbled cone snail is marine worms, small fish, mollusks and other cone snails.
Marbled cone snail is said to be the master of deception as it hides very well. Other animals are not been able to spot it easily and steps ove it; this leads it to attack them. This makes it one of the most deadly creatures.

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