Aw, something i have 1st hand experience with.
On our last trip to CA,(land of the sourdough, earthquakes, and Monterey
jack cheese, not in that order though) we collected several beached
cryptochiton  stelleri on moonstone beach/gemstone beach just south of san
simion (Hearst castle fame ) . when we got back to L.A. we began cleaning
the oversized chitons . After say 15 minutes I developed the worse migraine
I'd ever had . it turned out that the animal emits an enzyme the prevents
other's from making dinner out of it and also retards critters from
attaching to it's "back".
Whether or not we could call this stuff "poison" or not is debatable, but at
the time i had those migraines i wish i were dead.
Ferreter (Weaseling away another Saturday)




-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Mayhew <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, October 23, 1999 8:53 PM
Subject: "If it ain't edible..."


>        Although i do not personally eat snails, slugs and such, i am
>wondering if there are any molluscs that are actually poisonous if
>eaten - is the poison of cones, for example, inactivated by stomach
>enzymes, or is it even absorbed into the blood stream while being
>digested?  Has anyone ever heard of a case of "shellfish poisoning"
>which was actually due to chemicals produced by the Mollusc, and not
>just associated commensal, symbiotic, parasitic or pathogenic organisms?
>Cheers,
>Ross.
>
>P.S.: sunny and 60 here right now - one good thing about our climate:
>if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute!
>--
>Ross Mayhew: Schooner Specimen Shells:
>Http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com
>"We Specialize in the Unusual"
>Phone: (902) 876-2241; Fax: (603) 909-8552.
>But try to find "something for Everyone"!!
>Snail Mail: 349 Herring Cove Rd, P.O Box 20005, Halifax, N.S., Canada,
>B3R 2K9.
>