I don't know if it were a fright message, but while on Kwajalein and
collecting
shells there - the Hospital put in the news paper - to be ever cautious.
Someone had been gotten to and suffered ? I suspect a novice
collector. Some people
out there were experiencing for the first time nature outside that of a
flower box or backyard.
They learned what Mother Nature can be like out there!
The family decided this :
1. pick up a cone only by the 'big end'. easy term to understand by
Elementary grade siblings.
2. if selected - put it carefully into a bag, and then into an outer
pouch, not one against the body.
What I see missing - slightly off topic - is the harpoon they shoot!
Some have
very complex and poison laced harpoons.
I agree the bad ones are 'tented' and are beautiful.
Martin
John Varner wrote:
> I believe they are all poisonous, though most are not deadly to
> humans. Cone toxins are a hot research topic. The mollusks are armed
> w/ a a brew of toxins, actually, and the mix seems to vary, even in
> the same specie from time to time. Cones that envenomate fish have
> the most quickly lethal mix. Individual conotoxins are being
> researched for their ability to produce a variety of neurological
> effects. Ziconotide (sp?) is a patented toxin being used as an
> anesthetic/analgesic agent. The cone toxins can produce powerful
> analgesic effects independent of the endorphin receptor system of the
> body, I.e.: they promise pain relief without the downside of
> addiction. Another of the conotoxins seems to produce powerful
> itching - mice injected w/ a tiny amount begin scratching furiously.
> Another interesting aspect of cones is that they seem to evolve new
> toxins at an incredibly rapid rate, spurring research into the way
> cones copy, recombine and express their genes.
>
> Googling conotoxins will yield a wealth of hits. More technical
> papers may be found by searching PubMed, the search engine of the
> National Institute of Health's National Library of Medicine. Try this
> : http://grimwade.biochem.unimelb.edu.au/cone/
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Eddy WILMET <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 21, 2009 4:50 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [CONCH-L] Cone Shells
>
> On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:43:45 -0500, Theresa Schwinghammer
> <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> wrote:
>
> >Can anyone tell me about how many poisonous cone shells there are
> and what
> >some of them are???
> >
> >Thanks! Theresa
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on
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>
> Hi Theresa, if you want to know more about cone toxins you can visit
> http://grimwade.biochem.unimelb.edu.au/cone/
> Regards,
>
> Eddy WILMET
>
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--
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/
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