What is Conus?
Q: What is Conus?
A: Conus is a large genus of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs, with the common names of cone snails, cone shells or cones.
Q: How do Conus snails hunt and eat?
A: Conus snails use a hypodermic-like modified radula tooth and a venom gland to attack and paralyze their prey before eating it. The tooth is sometimes likened to a dart or a harpoon.
Q: Where are Conus snails typically found?
A: Conus snails are mostly tropical in distribution. Geologically speaking, the genus is known from the Eocene to the present.
Q: Is handling Conus dangerous for humans?
A: Yes, they can "sting" humans, and should be handled with great care or preferably not at all. Cone snail venoms are mainly peptides and contain many different toxins that vary in their effects; some are extremely toxic. The sting of small cones is no worse than a bee sting, but the sting of some larger species can be serious, occasionally even fatal to humans.
Q: What substances does Cone snail venom contain?
A: Cone snail venom contains mainly peptides and many different toxins that vary in their effects; some are extremely toxic.
Q: Are there any extinct species of Cone Snail?
A: Yes, some Cone Snails are no longer living, like Conus adversarius.
