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Post by Talira Greycrest on Oct 4, 2020 3:10:58 GMT -8
Cone snails are marine mollusks found on coral reefs in all tropical and sub-tropical seas. They have beautifully-patterned cone-shaped shells. However, as pretty as they are, live Cone snails should never be handed, as they're highly venomous. They inject their venom via a hollow, harpoon-like tooth. Unfortunately, there's no antivenom.
The most dangerous species is the Geography Cone, found on reefs in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. It's believed this species is responsible for at least 30 human fatalities. In 1935, a fit young man in his late 20s, picked up a live Geography cone on Queensland's Hayman Island. He was stung on the hand, but felt no pain. Within an hour, he was in a coma and five hours after being stung, he died.
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Post by April on Oct 6, 2020 19:17:57 GMT -8
The term "beautiful but deadly" comes to mind! Haha. I had no idea that they were that dangerous. Hard to imagine that a snail would be... Is there any specific reason why it is called the Geography Cone?
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Oct 6, 2020 23:28:29 GMT -8
I have a collection of seven Cone snail shells but, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how the Geography Cone got its name.
I first heard about Cone snails on a documentary called 'Deadly Australians'. I later went on holiday with my family and, in a gift shop, found a selection of Cone snails shells. I recognised two of them (Marbled Cone & the Cloth of Gold Cone) from the 'Deadly Australians' show, but I wasn't sure what species the other two were.
In 2015, my family went on holiday to Bali. Near our hotel was a stall selling shells, some of which were from Cone snails. I bought two. When we returned to Australia, I sent photos of all the unidentified shells to the Queensland Museum for identification. The ones I got in Bali are the Leopard Cone and the Vexillum Cone. The smallest one in my collection is an Imperial Cone and the museum also confirmed that I've got the shell of a Geography Cone.
In 2018, my birthday present was a 10-night South Pacific cruise around New Caledonia, which happens to be in the Indo-Pacific region where Cone snails are found. Paid to join a snorkeling group on one of the reefs, but I didn't see any live Cone snails, just some fish and a couple of Sea snakes, though I did bring another Cone snail shell home with me (Striated Cone).
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