Is this a cone snail?

[Plankt0s]

This snail is advertised as a olive cowry on http://www.aquacon.com/snails.html I think that it looks like a cone snail, and if im right those are deadly...right?

http://www.aquacon.com/images/OliveCowry.jpg

[Koshmar]

There are only two species that can kill people (average person not an allergic reaction or small child situation). I can't think of the species off hand. There are a few people on here that can give you an ID on the snail, but I'm not one of them...

[keith1ocean]

It's an olive snail (family Olividae) - not a cone.

[Grunt]

It's an olive snail

+1

[Plankt0s]

I dont know where I got the idea that they were all deadly. I just saw these advertised and thought that perhaps they mislabeled them and were about to kill someone.

[mokeyz]

The 2 deadly species of Cone snails are Conus geographus & Conus striatus. I agree that your snail looks like an Olive Snail.

[pagojoe]

As they all told you, it's an Olive, not a cone or cowry. They are predatory, although they also scavenge. Mokeyz gave you the names of the two most deadly cones, both of which have venom containing powerful neurotoxins that affect vertebrates. There are a lot of others that are potentially deadly, but most of them either have very small teeth, making it difficult to envenomate a human, or they don't live in shallow water where they are likely to be collected by novices. The one possible exception is Conus textile. It's generally considered to be a mollusc eater, but researchers have found that the venom composition varies depending on where the animals were collected, with those from some areas (Australia, I believe) producing toxins that are potentially deadly to humans. The majority of cones are worm eaters, and those don't pose much of a threat to humans since the neurological systems of worms and vertebrates are very different.

Cheers,



Don

[mokeyz]

Don,

Back in the 70's when I was new to saltwater (yeah, I'm old!) I bought a Conus textile. I had no idea that it was dangerous and if the LFS where I bought it knew they didn't tell me. I would often move the snail when doing stuff in the tank without a care. So I get an issue of FAMA in the mail and there is Conus textile on the front cover with the headline "A Cobra in Your Tank".

Let me put it this way, after that it made a very nice addition to my shell collection.

Marlene

[pagojoe]

Ha! Well, the bright side is that a Conus textile almost never stings as a reflex. About the only way to get envenomated is to hold one in your hand or on your body for a while, or to put them in your pocket or inside your swim suit or wetsuit. They usually investigate what they're about to harpoon by "feeling" of it first, so if you know what the proboscis looks like, you can drop them or move your hand before you get hit. Conus geographus aren't that nice, they'll sting almost immediately when you pick them up, apparently in self-defense. That's probably why they've killed more people than all the others combined.

Cheers,



Don

[ddinox64]

I saw cone snails for sale today. They were varigated red and white pointed shell. Are these the good or the bad?

[pagojoe]

Those were probably Top Snails, or trochids, which are actually a lot more conical than Cone Snails. Those are algae eaters, and they only have "scraper" type radular teeth rather than the harpoon teeth of cones and some turrids and terebrids.

Cheers,




Don

[xian]

I recently was given a small Conus. (1/2") I thought that it was a textile (It has the small triangular markings on the shell) but the siphon is bright green, not white with a pink tip.

I have it separated in its own tank in my classroom. I have a couple small whelks and other predatory snails that I keep for my marine biology class to observe. Sound like any species anyone knows of?

[pagojoe]

I can't think of any cone with a green siphon, offhand. Can you get a pic of it?

Cheers,


Don

[xian]

I'll try.

[pagojoe]

Good, I'd be interested to see it. A green animal usually indicates the muricid genera Drupella or Cronia, but they aren't really bright green. The only bright green ones I can think of are either eulimids or opisthobranchs, and I doubt you'd confuse any opisthobranch with a Conus species. Looking forward to the pics,


Don